Minimum Requirements of School Plant
We may include so many items in the school plant. All the requirements may not be met within our schools. However, various minimum requirements of school campus are as under:
1. Class-Rooms
The school should have sufficient number of class- rooms, depending upon its strength. Each class-room should be spacious. Care should be taken that there is no over-crowding in the class-rooms. A pupil requires minimum of ten square feet ground area, to sit in the room without suffocation. So, for a class-room of 50 to 60 students, we require about 500 sq. ft. of floor.The class-rooms should be well-ventilated. There should be adequate light in the class-rooms.
2. Staff Room
Every school building should have a staff-room. In the room, the teachers can sit in their free period. They may do correction work or prepare their lesson. A lavatory should be attached to it. If the class is co-educational, there should be separate lavatories for the male and female staff.
3. Headmaster's Office
There should be headmaster's office near the staff room and the school office. The headmaster may sit in his office and attend to the various programmes and plans etc.
4. Auditorium
A good school must have an auditorium. This is essential to organise various school functions like dramas, debates, extension lectures, etc. It is a place to hold assembly of students for a purpose. Though an auditorium costs much, but the amount spent on it is well spent.
5. Toilets
In a school, there should be separate toilets for the students. They should not be allowed to urinate anywhere in the school. In a co-educational school, there should be separate toilets for boys and girls. Toilets should be adequate in number, depending upon the strength of the school. There should be flush latrines.
6. Playgrounds
It is impossible to think of a good school without playgrounds. There should be spacious playgrounds so that almost all the students can play there. These playgrounds should be well maintained.
7. Store-Rooms
The school should have some store-rooms to preserve the school property. Things should not lie here and there for want of store-rooms.
8. Lawns
A good plant should also have beautiful lawns. The students can sit in their free periods. They may have certain refreshments there. Sometimes the lawns are used for certain activities of the school.
9. Canteen
Every school should have a good canteen which is neat and tidy. It should have certain fresh and nourishing eatables. In the absence of such a canteen, the children rush to certain rehriwallas for stale eatables.
10. Special Rooms
The school should have special rooms to be used as library room, laboratory, art room, craft room, history room, geography room etc.
11. Equipment
More important than the building is the equipment in schools. Class rooms should be well-equipped. Seats, blackboards etc. should be suitable. There should be a number of audiovisual aids. There should be sufficient equipment in the laboratory, etc. Sports materials should also be sufficient.
There can be so many other items which can be mentioned such as hostel, staff quarters, common room,agricultural farms, gymnasium, workshop etc. We have discussed only minimum essential requirements of school plant.