The following is a description of a typical government school in Bangalore city. Compare this with the facilities a child from a middle class family has access to and the whole issue of equity in education is starkly clear. The sole room inside the building is dark and poorly lit. The windows are shut tight. There is no electricity connection, ruling out the option of artificial light.
Light only enters through cracks in the roof.
The air inside is quite stuffy. On the walls hang a few faded and torn charts and on the corner of the blackboard last month's date is still etched. The floor is bare and cold - a relief in the summer but hard and uncomfortable during winter. The room looks like it has not been swept in weeks. There is a single wooden desk and two rusting steel chairs.