Infrastructure facilities in our schools: a thing that begs a critical look

By Dr B. J. C. Perera

MBBS(Cey), DCH(Cey), DCH(Eng), MD (Paediatrics), MRCP(UK), FRCP(Edin), FRCP(Lon), FRCPCH(UK), FSLCPaed, FCCP, Hony FRCPCH(UK), Hony. FCGP(SL) 

Specialist Consultant Paediatrician

We are all ever so proud of our Free Education System. Mainly due to the foresight of politicians of the past, such as Dr C.W.W. Kannangara, and perhaps many others in the education sphere as well, our system of education has provided distinctive opportunities for all children in our land, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, ethnicity and wealth.

The far-sighted vision of our education system is to provide optimal educational facilities to each and every child of the Sri Lankan nation. The mission of the authorities to provide this is of course quite a laudable and noble task. Yet for all that, as at present, it is well-recognised that this venture is not an absolutely perfect, equal and even totally equitable venture that provides irrefutable as well as sublimely equivalent opportunities to every child in this entire island. There are most definitely quite a few problems in this system. However, in spite of all of some confounding circumstances, something akin to a level playing field in the realm of education has been provided for our children in whose capabilities the future of this country rest. It is stating the obvious to say that the intellectual and other aptitudes of youngsters need to be nurtured, developed and augmented through a most valuable education system for us to reap the benefits of such endeavours in the not-too-distant future.

Many of us, including parents, look at certain tangible characteristics that are exclusively and purely related to the imparting of knowledge and education in schools. There is no doubt that these are of absolute and prime importance and provision of information to young minds should take pride of place. Of course, the provision of adequate numbers of properly qualified and dedicated teachers with the necessary aptitudes as well as empathetic qualities, is a very vital cog in the wheel of the entire spectrum of education. We do acknowledge that there are problems in providing optimal numbers of qualified and suitable teachers to all schools in our island. However, this article hopes to address some other important consideration that should be taken note of. These include at least three of the vital infrastructure facilities in our schools.

The first of these is the provision of pipe-borne running water for each and every school. It has been estimated that around 40 to 50 percent of schools, mainly those in non-urban and far-away remote areas, do not have the facilities of a proper water supply, leave alone pipe borne running water. Economic constraints have been the main reason for this problem. The state is expected to provide this facility to each and every school in this island nation. If it is not possible to get this done through the government, there may be certain enterprising ways of getting such things done by the local population itself. It is possible to very often harness the philanthropy of willing residents in these areas to try and think of ways to finance the basic infrastructure of a satisfactory water supply to these schools. Most of these areas have affluent people who might be more than willing to be a part of such useful and noble ventures that would benefit the children of the very same areas. There are also ways of fund-raising events that could be organised by the school authorities themselves that would augment the monetary amounts that are needed for such projects. All it needs is a little imagination and of course unstinted leadership. The politicians of the area too can help in such endeavours. In fact, the total amount of money needed for a water supply project for these could be surprisingly low, provided some of the labour for the project could be secured via local residents through their voluntary efforts or through their generosity.

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, schools were kept closed for almost to nine months. Schools in many areas of the country opened for academic activities for designated classes on 11th January 2021. The education authorities are planning to gradually open the other classes in a stepwise fashion and perhaps within another month or so all classes will be functional. One of the prime recommendations for prevention of coronavirus infections by the health authorities is frequent washing of hands. For this measure to be effective it should be performed in an optimal fashion. It is recommended that hands should be washed with soap and running water for at least 20 seconds. What is the real purpose of our pontificating on the dire necessity of hand washing practices if there is no running water in the schools?

The second essential provision that should be attended to is the establishment of proper and hygienic toilets and wash-rooms. It is well-known that these are pretty unsatisfactory in very many schools. Some may not have properly functioning toilet facilities at all. Even when some sort of these amenities are available, cleanliness of these facilities in these edifices of learning seem to have gone through the windows of the very same institutions. Building and maintaining suitable toilets are no big deals if the residents of the area, the parents and even the children themselves are roped into the exercise. In many households in these areas, it is the children themselves who are made to clean and take adequate care of the toilets in their own homes. If it is properly organised, there is no reason why the children could take over such responsibilities in their own schools as well.

We have seen many children scrupulously avoiding biological relieving of themselves for prolonged periods of time because of the lack of proper sanitary facilities in toilets and washrooms. Quite a few of them, especially young girls, elect to wait for hours on end with full urinary bladders. Sometimes immediately after school time, they attend tuition classes where these sanitary facilities are no better. It is on record that Paediatricians and Genito-Urinary Surgeons do see children with persistently overstretched urinary bladders that could lead to major medical problems later on in their lives.

The third dire necessity for all schools is electricity. Many areas of our country still do not have alternating current power provided through the national grid. The government is on a committed course to try and provide electricity to many of our remote and impoverished areas. However, with the myriad of problems faced by the power generating and distributing sectors as well as the basic power infrastructure mechanisms, this might be wishful thinking, at least for the time being. In these days of electronic learning platforms and tremendous expansion of the possible electronic facilities to play a seminal role in education processes, the provision of electricity to all schools becomes a vital need. Once again, innovative ways of providing electricity through local solar power units, wind power securing mechanisms and even mini-hydro power generating enterprises are things that may be needed in some of the most remote areas.

Having mentioned at least some of the things that need rather urgent attention, the need of the hour to take these initiatives forward would be a committed partnership of schools with the residents of the same area. In many an instance our people are most receptive to the needs of children. This author has worked as a Consultant Paediatrician in three major towns in the periphery of our country, surrounded by remote and impoverished areas, for a total of 12 years before he reached the citadels and bastions of child healthcare in Colombo. The stints in these three areas were, in one-man stations as we call it, without another Consultant Paediatrician being available for miles and miles around. The author is well aware of what can be done by harnessing the goodwill of the local populace of these areas. Our people in these areas, of all religions, castes and creeds, consider it to be a supremely meritorious act of kindness to help out the hospital wards that cater to the health needs of their own children. They painted the wards, provided mattresses for the beds, bought expensive medicines for those who were not able to afford them, kept the wards and the toilets clean and generally threw their collective shoulder to the wheel. If something was needed, the author only had to ask, and most willing cooperation was there from the people, just for the asking. He does not see any reason for it to be any different, if help is sought from the very same people for the schools in those very same areas.