CASE STUDY OF PRIMARY SCHOOL

CASE STUDY OF PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR U. P. IN INDIA UNDER THE LOAN SCHEME OF WORLD BANK

Philosophy—To start the work following points were considered for economy and friendly echo to kids , teachers and management –

1. U.P. was divided into three regions based on climatic ,geological , cultural ,economy with respect to local materials , labors , optimum utility and functional aspects-                                   
1. Plain Region  B. Bundal Khand Region  C. Hill Region
2. Use of appropriate area for class room with the norms being not less than 1.00sq.m per student by assuming capacity of standard class room of 40 students .
3. Provision of sufficient windows area and opening to ensure appropriate penetration of natural light and cross ventilation .
4. School floor should be very costly so it may be finish in cement .
5. Evaluation of the cast –effectiveness and climatic suitability of alternative roofing designs, including but not limited to reinforced concrete with  water proofing protection , metal or wood truss roof structure with galvanized iron sheet or asbestos or terracotta tiles , with sufficient over hang to protect the sides of the building .
6. The life span of building .
7. The special need of handicapped children .
8. There must be proper care and attention of structural safety , protection from rain and flood , use of local materials and labors to generate more work and employment for local people .
9. There must be provision of water supply and latrines .
10. There must be provision of further expansion of building for future function of school education .
11. Separate design may be developed for different regions .
12. The international norm for area per student is 1.10sq.m. where as Indian norms 0.90sq.m. but UP Government has decided to have 0.70 sq.m. area when students are sitting on floor and is justified with our present way of living and will help to achieve economy .
13. Ad for as possible there must be proper site selection as per the norms of architecture and with respect to near by conditions . 

AIMS   AND    OBJECTS    OF    PLANNING

One can achieve the best results of planning only by considering and making analysis of all possible points and required operational elements before planning. Before planning if considers the points like selection of materials, constructional methods, forms and effects of various elements of project than there will be the best results. The following points were analyzed before planning –

1. If class rooms are developed – based on ORGANIC   GROTH , around a central     large open area and with the proper landscape than there shall be minimum possible windows on the wall which is facing the central open space because some time it may create disturbance due to presence of other children of different classes . This open space even may has formal space with proper landscape where children may have passive type of functions.

2. These schools should not be allowed any planning and construction on first floor because it shall not be useful for children and one should not be interested to make there over crowed. Therefore as for as possible a sloppy roof be adopted for covering which will give ale gent look, economical in construction and easy

 in maintenance .

3. Each room may have at least one door or maximum there may be two doors of 1.00 x 2.00 m size and 5 to 7 windows of 1.00x 1.50m size to provide natural light , effective sky-factor and better ventilation with proper air changes so that  children must get sufficient comfortable environment .

4. As for as possible in front 1.50m wide platform should be provided so that if children want than they can enjoy sun light in winter or can enjoy their Tiffin or sit and watch other children ‘s games .

5. The roof of class room should be projected to provide part coverage to plate form which will act as sun-shade for windows and doors. This type of coverage will be quite economical and will reduce the cast and maintains cast.

6. Landscape must eco-friendly with children and must give dynamic ness to the children. Landscape means the arrangement of plants materials and natural elements must be efficient, health-full and pleasant use for society or group of people .Therefore there must be a proper landscape for the various projects to get a proper environment. Ornamental trees and shrubs can be selected for their beautiful foliage and flower gives the aesthetic sense of man .In general such planting should fulfill two conditions. Firstly plants themselves must be attractive and second they must be displayed in an orderly manner. Bougainvillea can be used as ever green climbers along with boundary walls. Gul-mohur and Bottle Brush can be used as ornamental tree, Guava and Amla tree are recommended as fruit tree for children. Other seasonal flower plants with Tulsi plants are recommended for children to learn and enjoy.         

7. Area of each space must be governing with functional and number of children’s participation within that space. An international norm of area of a class room is 1.10sq.m. per student but as per our Indian norms the area is 0.7sq.m. per student in both cases these areas are floor areas of class room . Generally it is found that students are sitting on floor in primary schools and it is quite justified because the maintenance of desk and chair is not possible for which simple region is that these primary schools are quite for away from town and are in remote corners of state.10sq.m. per student area is justified and must with table and chair arrangement.

 

In ideal conditions the strength of children in a class room is 30 but in any case the strength should not be more than 40 because one can teacher can control maximum 40 children in a class room with comfort and can pay attention to every child .At the same time there will be proper relation between teacher and taught i.e. better face to face relationship between teacher and children. In this way 40 nos of students are recommended for each class. The floor area of a class room for 40 students comes 28.00sq.m. at the rate of 0.7sq.m.per student .For this area of a squre form was selected and after making the sitting arrangements it is found that 5.60 x 5.00m size of a class room is the best form and black board will be on the wall of 5.60m long. There will be only one door on 5.00m long wall but best would be minimum two doors on opposite corners but one door has been selected to reduce the cast of project .At the same time voids in walls in terms of 7no. Windows are taken with considerations of sky factor for light and air changes. The each window is selected of 1.00x1.50m size with ventilator with in the window. Each window has three ventilators out of which two are going to open upward and one down wards for better and sufficient number of air changes. Here 15 to 20 air changes can be selected because every season has different conditions. In this way total area of windows is 10.50sq.m. 

8. Roof must be such which must be having long life, economical, easy in malignance; it must be sound against seepage and dampness and at the same time in look also. Seepage and dampness also responsible to provide unhealthy environment at least within the classroom. At least cast is an important factor of project. So sloppy roof is recommended and both side sloppy roofs provide a better stability to roof when it is surrounded with a larger open area to sustain air movement. The floor area is divided into two parts along with 5.00 dimensions to make construction easy. Here angle iron truss is recommended so that even it can be fabricated in remote area with the help of semi-skilled and unskilled labor.  Stones are recommended as the prime roof covering material because today it is available every where in UP. This will help to illuminate the shuttering material too because it is not possible to provide shuttering materials on every spot and it shall be otherwise it will be uneconomical. The pralines which are used here are 80x80x6 which is even sufficient for load of Reinforced Brick Slab. After fixing truss and purloins the stone slabs of required width are to be fixed here and various joints shall be filled with 1:1 cement and cow or horse dung than finishing is to be done with 30mmthick ferroconcrete with 3mm thick steel jail. This ferroconcrete will provide better strength and will act against dampness and seepage. In this case Allahabad tiles over ferroconcrete are not recommended but the structural members are quite sufficient and can take load .In another case R.B. slab is recommended in both side sloppy with the help of central beam of ISWA250 along 5.00m dimension. Generally thickness of slab is 11.5 cm .Even on sloppy roof treatment is must against seepage and dampness therefore here Allahabad tiles are recommended to fix over brick surface with 1:6 cement sand mortar. This type of roof surface finish will be protected from dampness and provide better insulation and village look to act in contrast with natural environmental conditions .

The best proposal of roof for plain and Bundel Khand Region is either roof of stone slab with the help of steel truss and purloins having ferroconcrete finish or Reinforced brick slab with the help of central steel beam and having Allahabad tiles finishing on roof. In the case of Hill region the best roof is G.I.Sheet is recommended and G.I.sheet is fixed. Here 20 gauge G.I. sheets is recommended .Roof is projected 70cm on both side which use to protect the widows.      

9. Foundation must be as per geological conditions of site, economical, as per earth quick zone, and durable .Spread footing is recommended because generally there are normal soil conditions. In fact in village land will be given by gram sabha and generally Gram Shabha’s lands are unfertile i.e. lands are hard and have larger load bearing capacity. This is an ordinary system of foundation which can be done by even skilled and unskilled labor.   

10. Floor must be smooth durable,   non-slippery and have a good aesthetic look.

11. Doors and window must be in harmony with the building, durable and according to function.

12. Stability of structure must be govern with earth-quack and natural air speed .During planning the full attention has been paid for stability of structure and long life to protect building for children of God in every even and odd circumstances . Along this the maintenance of different building will be minimum per year if these building s are cared properly .Following some suggestions are for making further economy –

A. If stone slabs of economical size ( may be 60x60 cm. ) are available can be laid or fix on compacted soil with 1:4 lime +sand or lime- flyash and than on this surface sub-structure can be constructed .B. If molasses is available than soil stabilization can be done by adding 20 percent molasses in soil by volume. Further if bamboo is avallable than 5%bambu fibers may also be added in this molasses-soil to get better results. 2. Lime mortar can be used for stone work. 3. If lime is available than 1:1:9 cement +lime +sand mortar can be used for masonry work and the sq.m. Mortar can be used for plaster. 4. Cement plaster on stone work must be avoided and only pointing is allowed.

13. Different planning for different regions must be prepared so that it must be economical and eco friendly

As per climatic conditions.

14. School complex and Block Resource Center must have functional utility. 

PLANNING OF PRIMARY SCHOOL

Primary education is always the back bone for the multiple progress of country .After the independence India did lot of work to achieve its goal by means of formal and non-formal education .In between 1970 to 1980 Prof. T. N. Gupta the ex –Director of CBRI-Roorkee and Adviser of Government of India under the Rural and Urban Development Ministry had worked on Pre Cast Primary School Building to reduce its cast and it was a wonderful project to start classes within no time. In my opinion the biggest problem was the transportation to required site protection from damage during transportation because it was in the hands of innocent villagers .Any how near about 1990 Government of India decided for U.P.Government  had made an approach The World Bank for assistance for School Building along with School Complex and Block Resource Center buildings . On 3^rd December 1992 Mr.M. John Middleton and Mr .Eid Dip assigned me this project, after selecting  my base work from various proposals from all over India , to further develop suitable designs for Plains, Bundal Khand and Hill regions . This project had a value of Rs.360 cores.

Planning of a building is a big challenge for an architect because he has to take into account the various parameters and reactions on people and best utilization of space . The planning has to be done by keeping in mind about funds involved and time available for work to complete . A poor state like U.P. where people don’t get even two square meels, can not afford to give proper education to all . But people now realize that without education there will be no progress that without education there will be no progress hence they cut down their budget in various field and took loan from various sources of world like The World Bank to meet educational expenses . In fact education is the most important aspect of today’s society and its future progressive results . Even world famous architect  Le Corbusier designer and planner of Chandigarh , which is based on human anatomy and most modern city of the world has personified education with the right hand of human body in sector no. 14 and  industrial area in sector no. 26 as left hand for the better and progressive results in future .

A designer has to consider local materials and labors as for as possible to achieve economy in planning to get maximum advantages . I worked on project with all above considerations for our budding children of the state who will be the pillars of our country’s  success .

Education is the fundamental right of every child therefore there must be sufficient infrastructure and proper arrangements within approachable distance because it is as important as the clean air and excellent environment for health . Since, population is increasing day by day therefore it is prime duty of country to develop more and more such points of education. This primary education will be always a back bone in future of the country . This will be always the base education for higher education of the man who will be as the pillar of prosperity of the country . Education makes the man perfect and provide strong future , strong security and confidence to every citizen. It also helps to develop mental and physical aspects of man .

IMPORTANCE     OF     PRIMARY     EDUCATION

Environment of educational campus is an important factor as a complement to education so one must provide natural environment at least in India as it was important in our ancient period . As environment in Gurkul System of Education was quite popular –in which the child was away from his home and was studying by living with nature which was providing him better concentration of mind and thoughts. Therefore today at least our educational centers must have a proper geographical conditions and environment must be free from fear and pollution . Thus landscape must be given due importance and nature may prove as the best teacher for children to learn by touching , realizing , seeing and getting a sense of belongingness for developing affections with others. People living in village have their shelters and houses as an element of nature . landscape is developed near by shelter is a biggest friend of man to provide neat and clean environment and use to provide protection from various climatic conditions . So planning should not be as a watertight compartment type but there must be flow of space and planning must be based on ORGANIC   GROWTH   base planning .

The primary education may be divided in two parts i.e. first classroom teaching with the help of books and copies and second part – outside the class room teaching with the help of nature and its objects and elements  . The various multicolor flowers , leaves , plants and trees having forms ,shapes and multi color flowers will act as a silent teacher for our kids and children to learn. They will learn various aspects of life from these elements of landscape by seeing .touching and realizing . There must be sufficient open  a space adjacent to each class room so that the children may get some chance to do some cultivation work which may give them a feeling of belongingness . In other words one can  say  that this type of planning is based on organic growth .The out door activities for learning by means of working , group games or arrangements of various elements in play field is also very important part of planning to create a healthy environment and safety against any  accident.

Generally these schools are running in day time during winter. In morning during summer and in the worst summer i.e. May and June these schools have summer vacations. But even than these schools have summer vacations . But even than college can run in shifts to achieve its maximum efficiency or even in second shift vocational courses can run to develop more confidence and self dependability in young one .

THEME

It is true that a child is the father of man who is responsible for future development of progress and growth of total country. So, for proper growth of such child primary school education will be the foundation for child and country. Therefore the planning of primary –school must govern with its functional as well as aesthetic aspects. At the same time this planning must keep space with vast, rapid changes in teaching techniques. There are few more challenging demands on architectural ingenuity than those made by the special needs of modern schools. Not only in United states but even in India the majority of elementary and secondary schools with million pupils are supported to get education by public funds. Economy conscious school-managements call for building designs which combine maximum functional value and utilization of available space with flexibility and a minimum of outlay. To meet these requirements without sacrifice of aesthetic considerations is the architect’s dilemma. But the challenge is being successfully met and a number of recently constructed school buildings are remarkable for the bold and effective innovations which have being introduced by architect in designing these structures.

A prime need of teaching system is space for expanding, multifarious activities of the modern school. Now days it is must to make use for provision for education ranging from the primary school to junior college including class room teaching, recreational aids as television in class room, laboratories. Auditoriums, i.e. learning by play. Since the public pays for these teaching units and their maintenance therefore they expect same more facilities such as school hall, swimming pool, library may be available for the use of whole community during holidays or after school hours. Today space is very expansive therefore all planning of class room, auditoriums, common halls etc. must be designed for multiple purposes so that different functional spaces may be combined to get a larger area to meet other school activities or public demands. This can be done with some flexible and adjustable partitions or more than one function can be held without disturbance and some time while reading there must be some degree of privacy is must. Some time motion-picture, different lights and shades are also a part of teachings.

Another major considerations for planning of school building are natural and artificial lighting , air flow and ventilation, acoustics and safe guards against adverse weather or natural actions are must be considered . A glass wall or large windows over smaller windows make for improved lighting and help to bring sunshine into the room but glare of direct sun light must be avoided in Indian conditions. Sliding walls or a larger doors or large door may help to get flow of space and partially covered and partially open area for different methods of teachings. Corridors are also an important element for school planning which may hold multifarious activities of children.

The outdoor activities for learning by means of working, group games or arrangements of various elements in play field is also very important part of planning to create a healthy environment and safety against any accident.

The general layout of school campus is as important as the class room. It must govern with topography and if there is any unusual geography feature then must be carefully studied and architect must have the best possible use of space and harmonizing the building with natural landscape. For example a hilly land will influence the pattern and design where landscape will help in total.