‘Water Bell’ To Remind School Students In Karnataka To Stay Hydrated

Sometimes one tweet is all it takes for things to change. And a recent instance of this can be seen in Karnataka where thanks to a tweet all school children will soon have a bell ringing to remind them to pick up their bottles and drink water.

This model was in practice in Kerala where a bell was rung at 10.35 am, noon and at 2.00 pm to ensure that the children in schools stay hydrated.

As news reports of this unique practice were brought to the attention of the Minister for Tourism, C T Ravi, by someone on twitter, he tagged the Minister for Education, S Suresh Kumar, who tweeted his response saying he would initiate the necessary action in this regard.

And as reported by The Hindu, the Commissioner of Public Instruction has been asked to formulate a plan to get this practice going based on the situation in different districts.

“It will be rolled out in a phased manner. Children in rural areas generally do not carry water bottles, but water is available in schools. We should first work out such issues and then formulate a plan,” said Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar, as quoted here.

The education department will now formulate a programme taking into account logistics and issues like the availability of drinking water in rural areas.

The water break in Kerala reportedly lasts for 15-20 minutes, where students are required to mandatorily pull out their bottles and drink water.

But even before the government could make it compulsory, some private schools in Karnataka have already started implementing the scheme.

A private school in Dakshina Kannada that has implemented the scheme has also seen a positive impact on the health and general disposition of the students with this ‘water bell’ practice.

Indraprastha Vidyalaya in Uppinangady took up the ‘water bell’ practice and has received positive feedback from the parents of the students, as reported here. The parents say that the water bell has ensured that the children no longer return home with water-filled bottles.

In government schools though, the government will have to ensure there is enough drinking water available.

Although RO water purifiers are said to be provided to all government schools, their maintenance, as well as the requirement of adequate and clean toilets must be met before the ‘water bell’ can be mandatorily rung.