50 per cent CBSE schools have poor sanitation

It is not just State Board schools but even schools belonging to the Central Board of Secondary Education fall short on providing proper sanitation facilities to students. According to the National School Sanitation Initiative, nearly half the CBSE schools have poor sanitation facilities and require urgent attention. Most of these schools are the prestigious Kendriya Vidyalayas. The Union HRD and urban development ministers along with the Germany-based GIZ had developed norms under the NSSI and advised schools, affiliated to the CBSE as well as those that are state-run, to obtain ratings for themselves. Schools are divided into different categories depending on the kind of facilities they have. The CBSE had tied up with GIZ, or Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, to provide methodologies and approaches. According to the NSSI, only 85 CBSE-affiliated schools in TS and AP have obtained ratings. Of which 44 were rated red. Red indicates that sanitation facilities are grim and adherence to norms is below 33 per cent.