Child-friendly Infrastructure

Child-friendly Infrastructure

From conception to everyday functioning, the safety of students is intrinsic at every step of the way. When it comes to school infrastructure, this means a safe, accessible, and engaging space that meets students’ physical, emotional, and educational needs: basic amenities, clean drinking water, hygienic sanitation spaces, furnished classrooms, and enough room for extra-curricular activities, among others.

Separate toilets for girls and boys: The absence of toilets being a foremost reason for girls not attending schools in rural India, all Satya Bharti School buildings were equipped with separate, hygienic toilets for girls and boys – a model replicated in 49 adopted government schools across Rajasthan.

Basic amenities: Through discussions with the government, most of the schools now have electricity connections. Solar energy is being explored as an alternative power source, with a pilot at one school in Haryana and two schools in Rajasthan. The schools also have various options like bore wells, submersible pumps, water pipelines and tankers for adequate water supply.

BALA (Building As Learning Aid) techniques adopted at Satya Bharti Schools:

• Calendar month, school map and height charts painted on walls

• Abacus grill design

• Mathematics tables and alphabets on staircase risers

• Use of fractal tiles

• Distance markers on the floor

Green efforts at the Satya Bharti Schools: All Satya Bharti Schools have been built with small patches of green in the front (used as playgrounds) and at the back (kitchen gardens in most schools). The schools also undertake annual plantation drives before monsoons, which include local communities as well.

Green efforts at senior secondary schools:

• Tree plantation in the schools

• Building placed very close to the boundary to avoid long hard paved areas for internal roads

• All classrooms provided with energy efficient tube lights

• Ready mix of concrete to ensure no waste generation on site

• Waste water from drinking point is diverted to the kitchen garden