13th JRM Recommendations

Relating To Civil Works

The Mission has made the following recommendations

• Considering the mandatory RTE requirements like playgrounds in schools together with constraints in acquiring land a holistic assessment of land available through individual site mapping is necessary. GIS based physical mapping of schools has been launched in many states. This needs to be linked with other child tracking systems to rationalize the need for new schools and expansion of existing schools. Flexible methods of space sharing and vertical expansion must be developed for effective utilization of the existing resource.

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• Allocate some funds for innovation in civil works for developing attractive built forms, using improved or alternative building materials and providing spaces for cultural activity like states and open air amphitheatres.

• Service provisions like drinking water and toilets, although present in most schools needs to be up scaled as per no. of students enrolled and made both operational and hygienic.

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• Promote the effective usage and visibility of teaching learning materials through appropriately sized and inbuilt storage and display areas with the classroom.

• Ensure all weather classrooms to make them comfortable and usable throughout the year through provision for insulation, energy efficient lights and fans and by ensuring adequate day lighting.

Cont..• School physical mapping has started in a no. of states and

this will help in centralized decision making for making comprehensive organized school campuses. But the training of the staff carrying our data collection and drawing needs strengthening to ensure complete site data. Physical mapping should enable putting future inputs like additional classrooms. Appropriate sloped ramp, Plinth connectivity of various rooms & Staircases into a whole school plan for future development. School visioning exercises currently underway needs to also showcase the civil works based outcomes, and create a mechanism to reduce these into unitized costs clear to the sanctioning authority.

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• A provision for insulation, especially on roofs which receive the maximum solar exposure in the predominantly single storied buildings would be useful.

• Creating minimum standards of day lighting to ensure comfortable while glare free lighting through the windows, ventilators and the light shelves is essential. This is all the more important as many schools which do not have an electrical connection

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