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TMI Blog2009 (4) TMI 996X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a fire swept through the Lord Krishna Middle School in District Kumbakonam in the city of Madras, Tamil Nadu. The fire started in the school s kitchen while cooks were preparing mid-day meal. In order to protect the rights of life and education guaranteed to all school going children under Articles 21 and 21-A, the petitioner has prayed this Court to bring about safer school conditions. 2. It is alleged that Lord Krishna Middle School is one of the thousands of private schools that have sprung up in response to drastic cuts in government spending on education. This building houses more than 900 students in a crowded, thatched-roof building with a single entrance, a narrow stairway, windowless classrooms and only one entrance and exit. 3. The fire had sparked by dry coconut leaves used as firewood in a nearby makeshift kitchen with thatched-roof. The fire had started when the cooks were preparing mid-day meal under a Mid-day meal scheme popular in Tamil Nadu. It is alleged that the ventilation of the entire school building was extremely poor with only cement-perforated windows. It took sufficient time for the fire fighters on a crane to break these windows and rescue the few ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... here in the world; and (4) to ensure that such standards are in fact enforced regularly for the safety and protection of children in classrooms across the country. 9. The petitioner has submitted that the concerned building by-laws and rules are not followed by most of the schools in the country causing serious safety hazards for the children. 10. In this petition, it is prayed that along with the existing rules regarding safety, some additional rules be framed to strengthen the laws to protect the children in school buildings in cases of fire and other kinds of emergencies. In the petition, the petitioner has prayed for: (i) Developing a manual with fire safety procedures, and other safety precautions and distributing them in schools. The manual can include the ways fires can be prevented through careful design, management, and maintenance practice; and ideas for limiting fire damage, and other calamities. Marking clear and safe emergency evacuations. Making sure that all exists are marked clearly and that there are no objects obstructing the Entry and Exit of the school building. (ii) Ensuring that the kitchen in the precincts of the school has adequate safety mech ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rban and rural areas should be given specific directions with regard to the safety measures by the respective State Government. 11. In the petition, it is averred that the State is duty bound to protect and secure lives of students across the country by ensuring the minimum safety standards. The State is liable to promulgate policies, which ensure the implementation of the safety laws and procedures laid down. The State must ensure that the government-certified engineer visits each and every school at least once in two years and issued a stability certificate . if the building is found to be in good condition and all safety precautions are met. There should be strict supervision on those engineers who can issue these kinds of certificates. It is alleged that most of the Indian private schools in district towns are dull, claustrophobic, cramped and often have derelict structures with no fire safety systems, playgrounds or libraries. Most of these private schools in the district towns are located in a warren of congested lanes and school authorities often lock the gates when classes are on to keep children from slipping out of the school. Most of the schools in the villages and s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r improvement. The States admit that many schools do not meet self-determined safety standards, let alone the more rigorous standards of the National Building Code. The affidavits generally focus on plans for improvement, rather than schools current conditions, because much work remain. Where States have provided detailed counts of schools and installed safety features, it emerges that thousands of schools lack any fire suppression equipment. Thousands more schools do not have adequate emergency egress or non-inflammable roofs. Unfortunately, most States failed to provide any quantitative data in their affidavits. Instead these States filed vague plans for future renovations and piecemeal schemes to improve schools safety. Little technical advice informs some of the plans, and few have any admitted force of law or fail-safe or follow-up mechanism from the State Government. 17. While we applaud States efforts to improve schools, we find that States have done too little, too late. With the guidance of the National Building Code and affidavits in this case, we view Mr. Gonsalves s brief as crystallizing a minimum set of safety standards for schools. By their own admission, States ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years. 23. The Kothari Commission on Education set up by the Government of India in 1966 strongly recommended free and compulsory education for children up to 14 years. The Commission observed that there is no other way for the poor to climb their way out of this predicament. 24. Education occupies a sacred place within our Constitution and culture. Article 21A of the Constitution, adopted in 2002, codified this Court s holding in Unni Krishnan, J.P. Others v. State of Andhra Pradesh Ors. (1993) 1 SCC 645, in which we established a right to education. Parliament did not merely affirm that right; the Amending Act placed the right to education within the Constitution s set of Fundamental Rights, the most cherished principles of our society. As the Court observed in Unni Krishnan (supra), para 8: The immortal Poet Valluvar whose Tirukkural will surpass all ages and transcend all religious said of education: Learning is excellence of wealth that none destroy; To man nough ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ears. 29. The Constitution directs both burdens to achieve one end: the compulsory education of children, free from the fetters of cost, parental obstruction, or State inaction. The two articles also balance the relative burdens on parents and the State. Parents sacrifice for the education of their children, by sending them to school for hours of the day, but only with a commensurate sacrifice of the State s resources. The right to education, then, is more than a human or fundamental right. It is a reciprocal agreement between the State and the family, and it places an affirmative burden on all participants in our civil society. 30. This Court has routinely held that another fundamental right to life encompasses more than a breath and a heartbeat. In reflecting on the meaning of personal liberty in Articles 19 and 21, we have held that that personal liberty is used in the article as a compendious term to include within itself all the varieties of rights which go to makeup the personal liberties of man. Kharak Singh v. State of U.P. Ors. AIR 1963 SC 1295, para 16. Similarly, we must hold that educating a child requires more than a teacher and a blackboard, or a cla ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eceding paragraphs, it has become imperative that each school must follow the bare minimum safety standards, in addition to the compliance of the National Building Code of India, 2005, in particular Part IV Fire Life Safety and the Code of Practice of Fire Safety in Educational Institutions (IS 14435:1997) of the Bureau of Indian Standards. The said safety standards are enumerated hereinbelow: 3.1 FIRE SAFETY MEASURES IN SCHOOLS: i. Provision of adequate capacity and numbers of fire extinguishers of ISI marks to be provided in eyecatching spots in each block of the school. ii. First Aid kits and necessary medicines should be readily available in the school. iii. Provision of water tank and separate piping from the tank with hose reel to the ground floor and first floor. iv. Fire fighting training to all teachers and students from X to XII standards. v. Fire Task Force in every school comprising of Head of the institution, two teachers / staff members and one member from the Fire and Rescue Department should be constituted. The Fire Rescue Department member shall monitor and make fire safety plan and conduct inspections once in every three months. vi. D ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to ensure quick evacuation of children. v. The orientation of the buildings shall be in such a way that proper air circulation and lighting is available with open space all round the building as far as possible. vi. Existing school buildings shall be provided with additional doors in the main entrances as well as the class rooms if required. The size of the main exit and classroom doors shall be enlarged if found inadequate. vii. School buildings have to be insured against fire and natural calamities with Group Insurance of school pupils. viii. Kitchen and other activities involving use of fire shall be carried out in a secure and safe location away from the main school building. ix. All schools shall have water storage tanks. 3.4 CLEARANCES CERTIFICATES: i. Every School shall have a mandatory fire safety inspection by the Fire and Rescue Services Department followed by issuance of a no objection certificate to the School as a mandatory requirement for granting permission for establishing or continuation of a School. i. An Inspection Team consisting of experts like a Civil Engineer, a Health Officer, a Revenue Officer, a Psychologist, a Fire Officer, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gencies. On a smaller scale, but no less vital, in the Union Territory of Pondicherry, administrators replaced all thatched roofs and allocated an additional ₹ 500 lakhs to build pucca classrooms. Some States have counted their schools and know which require repairs; they provided these details in their affidavits along with detailed plans for improvement. We are encouraged by the agreement shared among States that safety must improve. Our order should provide additional stimulus for the general aims of the States already agreed policy. 38. In the end, we should need to do little but enforce existing laws and encourage States in their own wellintentioned safety programmes. However, in the years since the fire at the Lord Krishna Middle School, some States have moved slowly and safety standards have varied in quality across States. These delays and variations have subjected millions more school children to danger from fire, earthquakes and other causes, when simple enhancements could offer much greater protection. Articles 21 and 21-A of the Constitution require that India s school children receive education in safe schools. In order to give effect to the provisions of the ..... 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