6,900 Gujarat primary schools don't have playgrounds: Minister

The Gujarat government today informed the Legislative Assembly that over 6,900 primary schools in the state were functioning without playgrounds.

A written reply by Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama during the Question Hour also revealed that as many as 14 government-run primary schools did not have electricity.

Chudasama was responding to questions raised by Congress MLAs about the lack of basic amenities in Gujarat's primary schools.

According to Chudasama, 6,921 primary schools did not have playgrounds for students while 6,311 did not have compound walls.

The highest number of 693 such schools having no playground were in the tribal-dominated Dahod district, followed by Banaskantha(658) and Panchmahal(565), the minister stated in his written reply.

In Banaskantha, 733 primary schools did not have any compound wall, followed by Chhota-Udepur(498) and Dahod(401).

The minister also informed the House that 14 government-run primary schools across the state did not have electricity connection.

Among these, eight were situated in Porbandar district, two in Banaskantha and rest in four other districts.

He assured the House that all pending work related to allotting playgrounds, building compound walls and providing electricity connections would be done "at the earliest in a phase wide manner in coming years".