Primary education, especially in the rural
scenario, forms the basis for the growth of the rural communities in
terms of economical, social and other forms of development. In other
words, primary education is the foundation over which the country’s
progress can be fortified.
The quality and effectiveness of primary
education in our country depends to a greater extent on the physical
infrastructure viz. the school building and the surrounding
environment. It is also, of course, influenced by various factors
pertaining to educational methods, such as teaching methods,
teaching tools, evaluations etc.
The moment primary education became one of the
national concerns, a specialised programme termed as the District
Primary Education Programme (DPEP) was launched by the Government of
India in many states of the country. This programme benefited from
the bilateral funding support received from the British ODA
(Overseas Development Administration). One of the basic objectives
of DPEP is to provide better physical infrastructure and environment
for primary schools. Each state has a project director who is
responsible for the programme in the respective states. In 1995, a
special programme within the frame work of DPEP was initiated in
Andhra Pradesh. This programme was called the Andhra Pradesh Primary
Education Programme (APPEP). This programme, by design, was
envisaged to check the feasibility of using alternate building
technologies in school construction.
|
Sl. No. |
District Characteristics |
Design Features |
|
Bangalore
Rural/ Mysore |
|
1. |
Moderate
climate, solar radiation moderate, maximum temperature 30-34
degree celsius and minimum temperature 16-18 degree celsius.
Humid weather prevails for major part of the year. |
Reduction of heat
gain; Orientation of smaller walls to east & west; Shading
by roof overhangs, trees, chajjas, etc.; Increase of heat
loss; Ventilation through courtyard, windows facing wind
direction, high level openings close to roof; Reduction of
heat transmission to interior; Thermal insulation of roof. |
|
2. |
Rainfall not
exceeding 1000 mm, relatively dry winter. |
Average rainfall
is 600-800 mm. Not very high rainfall. Just moderate. |
|
Bijapur,
Bidar, Bellary, Gulbarga |
|
1. |
Hot dry climate,
solar radiation intense, temperature maximum 32-43 degree
celsius and minimum 6-20 degree celsius. Relative humidity
very low 25-40 per cent. |
This region has
climatological features above moderate nature in terms of
livable conditions. The temperature is very high during
summer. However, the relative humidity is very low i.e.
between 25-40 per cent. So certain design features needs to
be incorporated while designing a building to keep indoor
conditions comfortable. |
|
2. |
Normal Annual
Rainfall is 552.8mm |
Relatively very
dry winter. |
|
Thermal
Requirements |
Design
Features |
|
1. |
Reduction of
heat gain |
Orientation of
smaller walls to east and west. Small surface to volume
ratio e.g., circular plan. Shading with overhanging roof and
large tree in courtyard. Avoiding openings, other than
doors. |
|
2. |
Increase of heat
loss |
Ventilation by
courtyard. Evaporation by vegetation, sprinkling. |
|
3. |
Reduction of
heat transmission to interior |
Thermal
insulation of roofs and walls e.g., thick walls, cavity
walls. Reduction of air infiltration/ ventilation by
providing wind breaker/fences against hot winds. |
|
4. |
Balance for
temperature fluctuation |
Massive walls to
increase time lag. |
|
5. |
Control of
humidity |
By absorption/desorption
of earth (mud) walls. |
|
The objective, again, was to provide a better
school design and ensure high quality, durable construction at
reasonable costs. Or within a given budget it may be possible to
provide more schools or increased floor area, by adopting
cost-effective building systems. Tara Nirman Kendra, New Delhi
participated in that programme for construction of prototype school
buildings. Besides TNK, many other agencies such as CBRI, DAAT etc.
also undertook construction of prototypes and adopted their own
designs and technologies.
TNK professionals have learnt several things from
the APPEP experience. The main learning was that in future the
construction of prototypes should not be undertaken in isolation.
The construction should always be taken up along with design and
technological solutions.
A rapid appraisal of building materials and
technologies in the specific region must be conducted and its output
should be the basis for selection of appropriate building materials
and systems. This is required even for construction of prototype
school buildings. Therefore, for construction of schools in large
numbers, such an exercise of selecting the right building material
and technology for each component of constrution such as foundation,
walls, roofs etc., must be based on a rapid appraisal of the
specific region.
|
District |
Foundation
|
Wall |
Roof |
|
Bangalore
Rural/ Mysore |
Burnt brick
class I
Burnt brick class II
RRM upto G.L.
SSM above G. L.
RRM
SSM
Arched foundation in stone |
Burnt brick
class I
Burnt brick class II
Concrete blocks
Solid / Hollow
Hollow concrete block
Wire cut bricks
CSMB
Wire cut rat-trap
BB rat-trap |
Mangalore tile
MCR tile
AC sheet
RCC void slab
RCC prefabricated slab
Jack arch
Ferrocement channels
Stone slabas |
Bidar/Bellary/
Bijapur/Gulbarga |
Burnt brick
class I
Burnt brick class II
RRM upto GL RRM
above GL
RRM
SSM |
Burnt brick
class I
Burnt brick class II
Concrete blocks
masonry hollow/ solid
Laterite |
ACC sheet
roofing
RCC void
RCC slab
RCC prefabricated
Stone slabs
Ferrocement channels roofs |
|
Meanwhile, the experiences of various agencies
involved in the construction of prototypes in APPEP and the British
Council Division and the government officials who were part of APPEP
were shared in a workshop "Vidyalayam", organised by BCD at
Hyderabad in November 1996. The major outcome of that workshop in
the last session "Way forward " was that:
"Based on the experience of APPEP, in Andhra
Pradesh, other states should also look into the possibilities of
innovative school designs and alternate technologies and products in
the construction of prototypes.To make this happen, a special fund
of Rs 50 lakhs called the innovation fund, will be created and
allotted to each state."
With a view to improving primary school building
in Karnataka, TNK, Bangalore proposed to DPEP, Karnataka that a
study on "Design and Technology Choice" be commissioned for the
benefit of primary schools to be constructed in Karnataka. TNK,
subsequently with the agreement of DPEP, undertook the task of
conducting reconnaissance in six districts of Karnataka and proposed
the most appropriate building material and technologies for each
district from various considerations such as topography, climate,
material availability etc.
|
Mysore
District |
|
Indicative estimated plinth area |
Rates of
construction |
| |
Technology Choice |
Type Design
(Govt. system) |
Design Types |
|
Alt 1 |
Alt2 |
Alt3 |
Alt4 |
|
Standard
Specification |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BBW, RCC |
T0 |
|
3253 |
3511 |
3633 |
3170 |
|
RRM, SSM, CSMB
Filler Slab, MCR on steel |
T1 |
3134 |
2641 |
3346 |
3423 |
2047 |
|
RRM, SSM, CSMB FC
roof, MCR on steel |
T2 |
2931 |
2464 |
3071 |
3098 |
2776 |
|
RRM, SSM, CC Blocks,
Filler slabs, MCR on steel |
T3 |
3058 |
2612 |
3284 |
3396 |
2981 |
|
RRM, SSM, CC Blocks,
FC, MCR on steel |
T4 |
2855 |
2405 |
2996 |
3014 |
2704 |
|
RRM |
= |
Random Rubble
Masonry |
FC |
= |
Ferrocement |
|
SSM |
= |
Sized Stone
Masonry |
ACC |
= |
Asbestos Cement
Concrete |
|
GL |
= |
Ground Level |
MCR |
= |
Micro Concrete
Roofing |
|
CSMB |
= |
Cement
Stabilised Mud Blocks |
BBW |
= |
Burnt Brick Work |
|
RCC |
= |
Reinforced
Cement Concrete |
|
|
|
|
The survey was conducted in the following
districts of Karnataka:
|
● |
Bangalore rural |
|
● |
Mysore |
|
● |
Bijapu
|
|
● |
Gulbarga |
|
● |
Bellary and
|
|
● |
Bidar |
TNK, Bangalore started with retrieving secondary
information to have a preliminary idea of the six districts in terms
of terrain, climate, locally available building material resources
and skills, and so on. Subequently, field staff were deployed to
conduct building material survey in those districts. The information
gathered was put into a data base and analysed. The analysis of data
has provided interesting observations. The appropriateness of each
building system option was evaluated from the following criteria:
|
● |
Cost |
|
● |
Local availablity of
raw material and skills |
|
● |
Employment and
income generating opportunities |
|
● |
Embodied energy in
the product and system |
The innovative designs for school buildings were
proposed, based on the prime factor of the functional requirement:
Imagine a primary school building that does not have toilet; does
not have a place for children to play; not even a place for storage
of stationery and other teaching kits.
DPEP has brought out a publication on, "A guide
to design for better learning environment", to enable the designers
to propose a design that takes into account various design elements.
In addition to referring to such useful publications and with a view
to get the opinion of all those who are concerned in primary
education, interviews were conducted with school teachers, parents,
architects and DPEP staff in the districts that were surveyed.