Taking serious note of 367 out of 1,434 schools in Chennai city not having playgrounds, the Madras High Court has directed the State government to constitute a committee headed by the School Education Secretary to ensure that all schools in the State provide equal attention to physical education too along with academics.
Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N. Mala said the committee must be constituted within a month and it must first identify the schools that lacked requisite infrastructure to impart physical education. Thereafter, steps must be taken to ensure that the institutions get equipped fully to ensure the wellbeing of students.
The orders were passed while disposing of a public interest litigation petition filed by freelance journalist P.R. Subas Chandran of Chennai in 2018. The judges said the petitioner should be associated with the committee and that his experience on the issue could be utilised as he appeared to be interested in children’s physical and mental health.
Fixing an ultimatum, the Bench said, the committee should come up with its first report within three months of its constitution and that there must be follow up action too. The court ordered periodic inspection of schools to ensure that physical education was given equal importance along with other subjects.
“Physical activity enhances the physical and mental strength of a student apart from developing comradeship, instilling discipline and imbibing leadership qualities. The essence of physical education is overall development of the personality and spirit of a student. If such is the essence of sports, how can playgrounds be dispensed with in schools?” the Bench wondered.
Authoring the judgement, the Chief Justice said, a perusal of a Government Order issued by the School Education department on July 21, 2004 showed that a committee constituted to study the infrastructural facilities in matriculation schools had insisted upon provision of playgrounds either within the school complex or very close to the school.
Further, the affiliation bylaws of Central Board of School Education insist that every school should have a playground for conducting 200-metre track events besides having facilities for Kabbadi, Kho Kho, volleyball, basketball and so on. The Tamil Nadu Private Schools (Regulation) Act of 2018 too considers adequacy of playground as a criteria for recognition.
The significance of physical activities and sports infrastructure had also been emphasized in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act of 2009. Yet, the Chief Educational Officer (CEO) for Chennai had submitted that as many as 367 out of 1,434 schools in the city did not have playgrounds, the judges lamented.
“The mandate of the Government Orders and the provisions of law should not remain a paper tiger. It is more so when the significance of the physical activity and sports infrastructure had been emphasized in the RTE Act,” the Bench observed and ordered constitution of a committee to solve the issues.
In a report filed before the court on August 23, the CEO had said that there were 19 pre-primary, 553 primary, 178 middle, 193 high and 491 higher secondary schools in Chennai and that the numbers included the borstal schools, tribal welfare schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas too apart from other schools.
While all 1,434 schools in the city had toilet facilities, 367 did not have playgrounds, 21 did not have drinking water facility and 290 did not have dustbins in toilets, according to the information uploaded by the individual schools on the Education Management Information System (EMIS) portal, the report read.
