Karnataka: 'More than 17,700 govt schools lack playgrounds'

Many state-run schools lag behind in basic facilities like drinking water, toilets and playgrounds. A good 37 per cent of the government schools in the state lack playgrounds.

There are 46,757 government schools in the state. Of which, 17,384 don't have playgrounds while 4,876 schools lack a compound, teachers of government schools, on the condition of anonymity, told DH.

In Bagalkot district alone, many schools, including govt boys school No. 1, govt girls' school No 1 and govt school No 3, are deprived of a playground.

Spare a thought for the children who want to make strides in sports. "Where should we play? Because of no playground, we cannot take part in the sports meet, including the zone and taluk level," a girl poured her woes to DH.

Admitting that a total of 137 government schools in Bagalkot district lack a compound, DDPI B K Nandanur informed DH, "The School Education and Literacy department has sent a proposal to the zilla panchayat to build school compounds under rural employment guarantee scheme."

As per the norms, the schools must have separate toilets for boys and girls, and the facility-to-student ratio is 1:40. But 23 schools in the district are deprived of toilets. The situation is no different in other districts, said a teacher.