KOCHI: The Kerala state child rights commission has directed that government school buildings and campuses should not be used for any other purposes other than related to school/educational needs.
Land of government schools cannot be sold, leased or mortgaged for any other purpose. The commission issued that it was hearing a petition filed in the name of students of the Govt LP School and Model Nursery, Palakkad, against the move to build a public toilet in the school compound area where students had planted several trees that made the campus green.
The petitioners submitted that building a public toilet in the compound would affect the safety and security of children studying there.
They complained that all the trees that the student planted had been pulled down.
The district education director responding to a notice issued by the commission said that 560 students were studying in the school coming under the Palakkad municipality. They submitted that the local body had pulled down the compound wall at midnight on Oct 19, 2019, using general education funds and attempted to begin the construction activity.
The toilet was coming up near the well, which was the source of drinking water for the school.
Hearing the petition, the child rights commission member K Nazeer said that according to the Kerala Education Act, 1968 Sec 5B, no property belonging to government educational institutions should be used for any other purposes.
It asked the general education secretary and director to ensure that no construction other than those related to the needs of the school or students should be done. Land of the government educational institutions cannot be sold or mortgaged, he said.
