School Environment
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
Table of Content
Page No.
S No.
Contents
1
Purpose & scope
2
Responsibilities
3
Overview of major component of physical environment of the school
4
4
5
6
4
Policies for keeping and maintaining cleanliness of external
environment
5
Procedure
7
8
6
Policies for keeping and maintaining cleanliness of internal
environment
7
Procedure
8
Policies for keeping and maintaining hygiene and sanitation
9
Procedure
10
General guidelines
11
Annexure 1: Annual inspection format
8
10
10
12
13
List of Abbreviations
AME
Assistant Manager Education
DME
Deputy Manager Education
DoC
Department of Construction
HO
READ Foundation Head Office
ES
Environment Supervisor
SOPs
Standard Operating Procedures
Purpose & Scope:
The aim of this document is to create and maintained “eye-catching and learning” environment in
READ Foundation schools. Eye-catching means that the building of schools and its premises are
neat, clean and pleasant to watch. Learning means that the school premises empowers the
teacher to teach and the students to learn. The purpose of this document (SOPs) is to outline
policies and procedures for keeping school environment neat and clean. Neat and tidy setting
presents the school in a manner which reflects a well-run, high quality facility to all students,
visitors, faculty, and staff. This document is to standardize housekeeping measures and provide
clear expectations for housekeeping at the schools. Maintaining cleanliness is a continual effort. It
will give proper guidelines to the management of the school about how to manage the routine
tasks and maintained them all the time.
The scope of this document (SOPs) is extended to all the schools and colleges of READ Foundation.
Responsibilities
DME/AME:

Provision and orientation of document containing SOPs (School environment) to principal
and ensuring its implementation in schools.
Principal:

Provision and orientation of SOPs (School environment) to admin/environment supervisor,
staff and the students.

Periodic formal and informal inspection of the campus to ensure compliance of the
policies.
Admin officer/Environment Supervisor (ES):

Implementation of SOPs provided by principal to keep school neat and clean.

Ensuring that all the building and premises of the school are maintained in a clean and tidy
manner
Staff:

Keeping their immediate work area and classrooms are neat and clean.

Informing the admin/environment supervisor in case of any trash/debris in the campus
Students:

Keeping their desks/chairs and classroom clean and tidy. Using dustbin while disposing
wrapper/trash/pencil sharps etc.

Informing the concern teacher in case of any trash/debris/wrappers in the class/ground or
around the campus
This document would be more helpful if it is read and implemented in conjunction with “Guidelines
for care/maintenance/housekeeping of READ Foundation Buildings” provided by DOC.
Overview of major components of physical environment of the School
(In context of READ Foundation)
Physical environment of the school may comprise of following components
I.
External environment of the school
II.
Internal environment of the school
III.
Hygiene and sanitation facilities
Detail of the above-mentioned components is as under:
I.
External environment of the school may include

Signboard

Boundary wall

School ground/s

Open spaces

Walking tracks

Gardens/Lawns/Flower bed
II.
III.
Internal environment of the school may include

School building

Corridors

Classrooms

Lab/s

Library

Offices (principal, admin, guest room & staff rooms etc)

Canteen

rooftops
Hygiene and sanitation facilities of the school may include

Drinking water

Water tank/source

Hand washing places/sinks

Toilets/washrooms
Policies for keeping and maintaining cleanliness of external environment

Signboard of the school will be well looked-after, having no unwanted poster/writing or
banner etc

Boundary walls of the schools will be properly maintained, neat and clean. Any writing, wall
chalking, painting, pena flexes and other displays will be eye-catching and error free.

Unnecessary/unwanted banner/posters/flexes will be removed from boundary walls
immediately.

School ground will be free from hazardous objects.

Opening spaces of the schools will be orderly and kept properly.

Walking tracks will be properly set and upheld.

Flower beds/gardens will be properly trimmed and maintained.

There will be no wrapper/paper in school premises.
Procedure
Principal of the school will nominate and delegate the responsibilities to any staff member
preferably admin of the school. Principal will give proper orientation to the nominated staff
member about the tasks. Admin/responsible person will carry out all the activities with the help
of support staff, teachers and the students.
Following actions will be carried out to keep external environment neat and clean
S#
Action
Frequency
Responsibility
1
Keeping signboard of the school orderly
As needed
Admin/ES
2
Maintaining boundary wall and entrance gate/s As needed
(repairing or paint)
3
Removing
extra
material
(poster/flexes/wall As needed
Support staff
chalking) from boundary walls
4
Keeping school ground free from hazardous objects Monthly
Sport Incharge/PTI
5
Placing big size waste/trash bins in all the open Yearly
Admin/ES
spaces for throwing wrappers and papers
6
Empty trash and sanitary receptacles
Daily
Support Staff
7
Trimming and pruning of the weeds
Quarterly
Support Staff
8
Watering the dust in the ground/s and open spaces Weekly/as
(where needed)
9
Support Staff
needed
Making and maintaining flower beds (Kayari) for Monthly
Support Staff
plants and flowers
10
Maintaining and keeping walking tracks tidy
Monthly/
as Support Staff
needed
11
Sweeping leaves, branches, or debris that is on the Weekly
Support Staff
ground or any other open space
12
Plantation (planting trees/flowers) in the opening Yearly
spaces of the school
Staff & Students
Policies for keeping and maintaining cleanliness of internal environment

School building will be properly maintained, neat and clean

Classrooms will be neat, clean and orderly set.

Office/s will be tidy and well set.

School lab/s will clean and properly maintained.

School library will be neat, clean and all the books/shelves will be orderly set.

All corridors/verandas and rooftop will be neat and clean.

All the furniture, doors, windows and glasses will be tidy and properly maintained.

There will be no trash, wrappers and papers anywhere in the building.
Procedures
School admin/environment supervisor will take help of class teachers, support staff,
proctors/monitors by delegating different responsibilities in order to keep school neat and clean.
Class teachers along with proctors/monitors will ensure cleanliness of classrooms, lab/s, library
and playing ground by guiding students and staff to dispose off trash, wrappers and extra papers
properly (in the dustbins). Support staff will be help admin/environment supervisor to keep
office/s, staff room, admin room, corridors, verandas and open areas clean.
Following actions will be carried out to keep external environment of the school neat and clean
S#
Action
Frequency
Responsibility
1
Placing dustbins in the classrooms
Once
Admin/ES
2
Placing dustbins in all the office/s, lab and library
Once
Admin/ES
3
Placing dustbins in all open areas (corridors, verandas etc.) Once
Admin/ES
4
Setting classroom norms and displaying in all the classroom Yearly
Class Teachers
norms to ensure cleanliness in the classroom (include
clauses about the proper use of dustbins)
5
Making proctors/monitors in the classes and assigning Yearly
Class Teachers
them the duty to guide students to use dustbins for
throwing trash, wrapper, papers etc.
6
Dusting mop tiles/floors and stairs
Daily
Support Staff
7
Spot moping floor and spot vacuum
Monthly
Support Staff
8
Straightening all the furniture
Daily
Support Staff
9
Dusting all the furniture (Chairs, desks, tables etc.)
Daily
Student/staff
10
Cleaning whiteboard/blackboards
Weekly
Support Staff
11
Dusting monitors, computer and other appliances
Daily
Concern Users
12
Emptying all dustbins/trash receptables
Daily
Support Staff
13
Wiping/washing all rooms (classrooms, office, lab/s library Monthly
Support Staff
etc.), floors and corridors
14
Dusting ceiling, light fixtures, fans and clocks etc
Bi-annually
Support Staff
15
Washing dustbin/trash receptable
Yearly
Support Staff
16
Cleaning/washing carpets
Yearly
Support Staff
17
Cleaning all horizontal surfaces like Window and doors Yearly
Support Staff
(clean with neutral disinfectant to remove spots and smudges)
18
Marking/placing main collection point for all the waste Once
Admin/ES
material
19
Disposing off all trash from main collection point
Monthly
Admin/ES
Policies for keeping and maintaining Hygiene and sanitation facilities

Drinking water will be pure and healthy

Water tanks, coolers/dispensers and glasses will be neat and clean

Water will be available for washrooms, hand washing etc.

All the washrooms will be properly maintained, neat and clean with allied facilities like
water, soap etc

There will be no trash, wrappers or papers anywhere in the washroom area.
Procedures
School administration will ensure pure and healthy drinking water for all the students and staff in
the school. School administration, with the help of READ Foundation HO, will conduct water
testing to ensure that it’s safe and healthy to drink. School admin/environment supervisor will also
ensure that water sources like water tanks, water dispensers or water coolers are neat and clean.
School administration will ensure availability of all necessary accessories/material like soap etc. in
the washrooms.
Following actions will be carried out to keep external environment of the school neat and clean
S#
Action
Frequency
Responsibility
1
Conducting water testing
Once
Principal/HO
2
Fixing water tanks or any source in a place from Once
Admin/ES
where water flow can be ensured to all the places
at school
3
Purification/filtration of water
As needed
Admin/ES
4
Cleaning/washing water cooler/dispenser
Daily/weekly Support Staff
5
Cleaning/washing glasses for drinking water
Daily
Support Staff
6
Cleaning/wiping water stains from the floor
As needed
Support Staff
7
Placing sanitary receptable/bins in all the Once
Support Staff
washrooms
8
Cleaning all the toilets and fixtures
Daily
Support Staff
9
Cleaning all the sinks and fixtures
Daily
Support Staff
10
Sweeping and wet mop floors of washrooms
Daily
Support Staff
11
Emptying all sanitary/trash bins
Daily
Support Staff
12
Cleaning mirrors (with glass cleaner using a lint- Monthly
Support Staff
free cloth)
13
Spot cleaning from all the horizontal surfaces like Yearly
Support Staff
doors, windows and walls etc.
14
Washing/replacing
washrooms
sanitary/trash
bins
from Yearly
Support Staff
General Guidelines
Following are general guidelines to keep the school neat and clean:

School admin/environment will take round of the campus on daily basis to check
cleanliness of the campus.

School principal will take round of the campus at least once a week.

Principal and staff will regularly guide and motivate the students to keep the surrounding
neat and clean (Quranic verses, Hadith and quotes of famous people can be used as
reference).

After each informal or formal inspection visit principal will give feedback to the
admin/environment supervisor and will make an action plan to take corrective measures.

Principal with some staff members will conduct detail annual inspection of the campus to
ensure cleanliness. (See format for inspection in the annexure 1)

Arrange annual classroom decoration competition among different classes to make
physical environment of the school more attractive. In the same way open
spaces/ground/flower beds can divided among student-groups/classes to keep them tidy
and decorate to make them eye-catching. Best class/group can be awarded with
trophy/certificate/cash. (This will be an optional activity)
Annexure 1
Annual inspection form
Inspected by:
Inspection date:
Area of inspection
Status
Yes
No
Action
N/A Required
By
By
Status
whom
when
(completed
Yes/No)
e.g
Signboard of the school is
properly maintained