Half-acre is enough to run a school: Govt

BENGALURU: Schools working out of crammed spaces may be a thing of the past if the Karnataka government has its way.
The education department on Monday issued a circular, fixing the minimum land requirement at half an acre for newly opened schools in the BBMP's jurisdiction. Officials clarified the circular will apply for the existing schools too.
Activists said the circular has halved the minimum land requirement from 1 acre to half acre."Acute shortage of land and the mushrooming number of schools in the city and state were on our minds while framing these rules," said Md Mohsin, commissioner, department of public instruction.
The Right to Education Act calls for a quality campus, including a playground. But many schools complain that the minimum requirement of 1 acre was impractical in a city like Bengaluru, he added.
The circular will be enforced on new schools as well as old ones when they come for renewal of various approvals, he said.
Private schools viewed the decision with apprehension. "We welcome the decision for new schools, but where will old schools find half an acre of land?" asked Shashi Kumar, general secretary, Karnataka Associated Management for English-Medium Schools. He said the education department should look at fixing restrictions on vertical growth of schools, rather than horizontal.
Nagasimha G Rao, state convener of the RTE Task Force, observed that school campuses becoming smaller would affect the environment in which schools were functioning, and also the mind of children. He was skeptical of norms centered around vertical growth.
"It is ridiculous that the state government has reduced land requirement for schools when the need is spacious schools with an adequate playground, classrooms that are not congested," he said.
With the reduced requirement, the DPI is also planning to take a relook at how much land schools have. "If needed, we will conduct a fresh survey to find out how much land schools have and ensure they adhere to the norms," Mohsin said.