NHRC issues notice to Haryana Edu dept over single-room school

National Human Rights Commission today issued a notice to Haryana Education department in connection with a government school being run reportedly in just one room, catering to 412 students, teachers and staff.
According to a statement released today, a notice was served to the Principal Secretary, Education, Government of Haryana after the Commission took suo motu cognizance of a media report about the one-room government school catering to 412 students from class I to V, teachers and staff.
He has been given four weeks time to respond to the allegations made in the media report carried on March 11.
According to the report, Shakti Nagar Government Primary School at District Headquarter town of Kaithal in Haryana operates in only one room, already declared unsafe, with an attached veranda for the students.

Not only this, it is also used as a kitchen to cook the mid-day meal during the rainy season. Now, since the last few months, it is also being used to store 200 chairs and 80 benches. There is only one toilet for the teachers, staff and students including girls and boys, the report alleged.
The classes are held in open ground and veranda and also in two separate chaupals, located at a distance of 300 to 500 yards from the school. The drinking water is stored in a tank during supply hours but in absence of the supply, water has to be fetched from hand pumps or submersible pumps located in the vicinity of the school, it claimed.

The Commission has observed that the contents of the press report, if true, raise a serious issue of the violation of human rights of the children, the staff and the teachers of the school.