KOCHI: A government lower primary school in Pathanamthitta was recently in the news. It stood on campus spanning around 50 cents, half of which was designated as a playground.
Though the land is insufficient for a school to function as per the Kerala Education Rules (KER), things were fine until one day, when the local administration decided to take over part of the playground for what they believed was a larger cause — a water tank.
Luckily for the tiny tots, some went to court against the move. The Kerala High Court heard the case and deemed that playgrounds and spaces for extracurricular activities are the right of children and the KER should include the stipulation making playgrounds mandatory in schools in its norms in four months.
“Education should not be restricted to classrooms, and extracurricular activities, including sports and games, should also be a part of the education curriculum. It will increase the physical skills of the children like flexibility and balance motor skills, hand-eye coordination and heart and lung function... Social skills, cognitive skills and emotional skills will also improve if the children are allowed to engage in games and other activities in the school playground,” the court observed in the judgment.
Anagha Premlal, an HR personnel in a private firm and a mother, terms the verdict revolutionary. “It’s coming in an age when childhood has become an epidemic of boredom and unhappiness. Children’s excessive use of social media and smartphones has turned into an addiction that needs urgent attention,” says Angha, who herself found it difficult to wean her daughter away from social media until she enrolled her in kalari classes. “There has been a loss of childhood from the time when kids turned streets into playgrounds, especially during vacations,” she adds.
Physical & mental health
With cities turning into concrete jungles with barely a few open grounds, the chances of interaction among peers and socialisation have become slim, and this has put psychological pressure on children leading to emotional insecurities, as revealed by several studies. “In this context, the HC order is splendid. But the catch is it has to be properly executed,” says Dr K Sudarshan, chief psychiatrist of Cooperative Hospital, Thodupuzha, who works with youngsters as part of a suicide prevention project.
“Open spaces and playgrounds are where teamwork can be built, friendships forged, and tolerance practised. Be it a folk dance or a play, these group activities can bring about positive emotional changes in youngsters. All these will lead to character formation. There is need for a ventilation among the younger generation,” he adds.
Closed vs open spaes
Various summer camps for children offer them an avenue for extracurricular activities, but they are often held in closed spaces. They do have merit for being group activities but interaction in a closed environment is less spontaneous, says Mamata Shankar, a clinical psychologist.
“In closed spaces, there is always the fear of being cowed down emotionally more than in an open space. Open air has that magic — it inspires a person to be free. Extracurricular activities by schools should be held more on playgrounds. In view of that, more spaces for this will sure be a welcome thing,” she says.
Physical education teachers also say the HC order opens a lot of scope for the all-around development of children, especially in terms of sports and fitness. However, mere playgrounds won’t suffice, says Lamlun Buhril, associate professor at Lakshmibai National College of Physical Education in Thiruvananthapuram.
“There are several schools that have large playgrounds. They use it to attract students that would fetch them good percentages in Classes 10 and 12. But what is needed is the utilisation of the space available to develop children’s fitness levels and sporting potential. That can be fulfilled only when there are trained physical education personnel guiding them,” he says.
The seriousness of the schools or guardians in utilising the area is of prime importance, especially since there is no supervising authority to look into such development of the students. “It is about sanctioning infrastructure for training. It is also about awareness. All we have now is the wrong concept of a drill master rather than people trained for channelising students’ skill constructively using open spaces and school infrastructure,” Lamlun says.
Lack of open space
The rapid urbanisation post-1990s has taken away many playgrounds in schools. In the case that came up before the HC, the government lower primary school for SC/ST in Pathanamthitta stood at just 50 cents of land as against the basic requirement of 98 cents (40 Are).
“The expansion of urban limits of cities indicates eating up of open public spaces to accommodate development projects or granting of such spaces to private players,” says Anil Kumar P, former chief town planning official. This will translate to shrinking open spaces for people in general, he says, adding, “Children in particular will be affected by this shrinkage, which could mar not just their physical and mental fitness but also their life skill development.”
“Earlier, public ponds were where children learnt to swim. The ponds are now man-made and available for a fee to people who can afford it. It was the open spaces led to the creation of some of the sportspersons Kerala has seen,” he says.
With the cities expanding, open spaces are shrinking rapidly. Even in coastal areas, this shrinkage in open space as per the State Planning Board’s 13th Five Year Plan (2017-2022) report of the working group on environment is around 50%.
The Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) guidelines, put together by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, recommend 10 to 12 sq m of open space per person. However, the per capita availability of green and open spaces in Thiruvananthapuram is just 2.23 sq km, as per a Master Plan draft document. Kochi too fares almost as bad with just about 1.24% of the total city area qualifying as open spaces.
In such a scenario, slotting space in educational institutions as open spaces for games and extracurricular activities could help in grooming children to become well-rounded individuals. But this may not be the only reason for the HC order, says Shiju Varghese, an advocate who appeared for the petitioner.
“The question was primarily about disparity and the need for equality. By comparing the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) clear mention of playground statistics and the lack of clarity of the same in the KER , the disparity among children studying in both these streams was brought forth. The KER fails with its glaring lacunae in its Chapter 4 Rule 3 Subclause 2 that does not state the dimensions of the playground required, leading to scopes for interpretations,” he says.
This disparity means students studying in a CBSE school will have access to better infrastructure than the ones in state board, making the former better equipped in terms of confidence and grooming. “It is to quell this disparity that the HC insisted the government state the exact guidelines in four months,” the lawyer explains.
“The ultimate aim is to bring about the equality in provision of education as mentioned in the Constitution,” Shiju says, adding that when it comes to ensuring public health and education, there should be no compromise.