AP floors Schoolkids

Hyderabad, June 11: The state government has failed to set up classrooms and provide basic amenities in most of its 74,000 schools. In about 200 government schools in the city, there are no provisions for drinking water, furniture or electricity. Due to shortage of classrooms, students of several classes are put into one room, especially during the monsoon. On sunny days, they follow the gurukul system or taught in the verandah.
Hyderabad, June 11: The state government has failed to set up classrooms and provide basic amenities in most of its 74,000 schools. In about 200 government schools in the city, there are no provisions for drinking water, furniture or electricity. Due to shortage of classrooms, students of several classes are put into one room, especially during the monsoon. On sunny days, they follow the gurukul system or taught in the verandah.
"The situation is not as bad as it used to be a few years ago. The government has been providing funds every year and we have been installing these facilities in a phased manner. Recently, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation released Rs 3.5 crore for buying furniture and for the construction of classrooms," she said. There nearly 20,000 government schools which do not have toilet facilities or furniture in the state. Of 40 lakh students in government high schools, nearly 45 per cent are girls.
About 10,000 schools do not have drinking water facilities and 9,000 schools do not have sufficient classrooms. In nearly 300 schools, there is no power connection due to non-payment of bills. About 200 schools have no power connection at all. The situation is worse in primary and upper primary schools in rural areas. Most of these schools do not have furniture.
"More than Rs 100 crore was spent on providing furniture, electricity and drinking water in government schools besides constructing additional classrooms," said the school education joint director, Mr Sudhakar. However, toilets cannot be provided in all the government schools overnight, he added. There are over 1.10 crore students studying in the government schools in the state. Of the 74,000 schools, there are 45,000 primary, 16,000 upper primary and over 10,000 high schools.