Basic Facilities Influence Children Well Being

By: Ekangna

In a country as vast and heterogeneous as India, the right to education is disproportionately attained. While there has been a trend towards greater accessibility to education, the quality and learning environment within which students are taught,especially in urban slums and rural government schools which continue to be areas of concern. The lack of proper infrastructure and basic facilities in these schools has long-term implications not only on students' performance at school but also on their physical well-being and mental well-being.

The Rural Education Crisis: It's More than Classrooms

Rural Indian government schools do not have appropriate infrastructure. Most of the schools do not have appropriate classrooms, clean toilets, drinking water, libraries, computer rooms, and playgrounds. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) reports that over the years, there has been a small increase. Functional girls' toilets increased from 66.4% in 2018 to 72% in 2024. Availability of drinking water increased from 74.8% to 77.7%, and availability of books other than textbooks increased from 36.9% to 51.3%. Some states are behind, however, particularly in the Northeast->Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland.

These infrastructural deficits discourage enrollment as well as consistent attendance. Lack of toilet facilities is most detrimental to adolescent girls, who are most likely to drop out after puberty if there are no sanitation facilities. This not only affects their education but also exposes them to early marriage and limited career opportunities, undermining efforts for gender equality and women's empowerment.

Such organizations as One School At A Time (OSAAT)have filled the gap for the kids in such schools by focusing on three areas: classrooms, kitchens, and washrooms. Their work proves that if a clean, safe, and stimulating environment is offered, kids are more likely to go to school every day, and teachers are more committed to their job. Additionally, the inclusion of digital learning platforms helps bridge the rural-urban education gap.

The Hidden Crisis in Urban Slums

While rural schools are subjected to seemingly concrete infrastructural problems, slum children in urban slums are confronted with a distinct but no less unyielding crisis. Urbanization in India has come so abruptly that it has produced an immediate urban poverty explosion. According to UNICEF, India's urban population is expected to increase from 377 million in 2011 to 600 million by 2030. One of the glaring effects of this growth is the spread of urban slums, where amenities are either missing or in short supply.

Slum children suffer from chronic stress due to a variety of environmental and social causes: insecure housing, overpopulation, lack of access to clean water and food, physical or sexual violence, domestic violence, and lack of access to health care and education. Such children are in permanent danger and deprivation and hence are highly vulnerable to mental health disorders like anxiety, depression, and trauma.

In disregard of this reality, there exists a glaring deficiency of specialized mental health interventions for these groups. Offering them their educational needs without consideration of their psychological burdens is not enough. Any successful intervention must take into consideration both their academic and emotional development.

Interconnected Consequences: Education, Mental Health, and Physical Well-Being
School buildings are not buildings—they're the very heart of a child's educational experience. There have been a number of studies that have demonstrated a direct proportional relationship between better school facilities and better student achievement. Schools with good sanitation, clean water, libraries, and technology don't simply have better attendance but also better academic achievement and greater student engagement.

Apart from that, physical health and mental wellness are highly subject to the environment of the school. A child who studies under unclean, unsafe, and inadequately equipped school conditions is most likely going to suffer from low self-esteem, chronic illness, or psychological stress. This may lead to poor concentration, poor performance, and even long-term educational disengagement. Students in those schools also develop a feeling of inferiority when compared with others in well-equipped schools, which becomes negative for their mental well-being.

On the other hand, healthy school environments with well-functioning, clean facilities result in better hygiene, less disease burden, and a better attitude towards education. For girls, in fact, good sanitation can be transformative—preventing school dropout, making higher education possible, and delaying marriage, resulting in **intergenerational empowerment.

Bridging the Gap: A Call to Action

These issues require a multi-dimensional solution. Repairing physical infrastructure is part of the solution. Investment must be channeled into:

Psychiatric treatment, especially in city slums.



Public mobilization to urge parents to embrace education.

Monitoring mechanisms to monitor progress and pinpoint areas of lag. Public-private partnerships. Closing the urban-rural educational gap is not only a question of equity—it is a national imperative. By giving all children, regardless of where they live, access to quality infrastructure and support services, India can build a more skilled, healthy, and inclusive workforce and drive long-term economic and social progress.