A/HRC/20/21 VII. Main elements addressed by national norms and standards for quality in education 50. As outlined, States have developed a variety of instruments to promote standards for quality in education, sometimes with technical assistance,39 ranging from laws to policies and programmes. Below are examples of initiatives addressing some specific components of quality in education. They are by no means exhaustive. A. Physical environment 51. A rights-based, child-friendly school requires a healthy, hygienic and safe learning environment, with adequate water and sanitation facilities and healthy classrooms. 40 Overall norms for the construction and modernization of school buildings are also relevant in this regard. 52. The physical environment requirements can include aspects such as the presence of basic facilities (sanitation, separate toilets for girls, ramp for persons with disabilities) and adequate infrastructure (lighting, acoustic, safety and security, communication facilities). Facilities and equipment in schools must be appropriate in terms of instruction needs, health and sanitation, safety and management. 41 Specific norms are required for infrastructure for technical and vocational education. 42 53. A number of States have regulations outlining the necessary infrastructure for schools. In India, for instance, according to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, schools must have an all-weather building, with separate toilets for boys and girls, along with a kitchen, clean water for drinking and a playground with a secure boundary wall. In South Africa, the Government has developed a School Infrastructure Performance Indicator System along with norms and quality interventions required to support an equitable, modern, high-quality education system to help track progress and identify intervention requirements.43 B. Class size and pupil-teacher ratio 54. Class size and pupil-teacher ratio is another important indicator of quality of education. Overcrowded classrooms undermine quality education in many developing 39 40 41 42 43 12 For instance, in Sri Lanka, educational standards were developed with technical assistance from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, UNICEF and UNDP; see Standards for Quality in Education: Experiences from different countries and lessons learnt, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), 2011, p. 58. See UNICEF Life skills page, available at http://www.unicef.org/lifeskills/index_7260.html. In Japan, the school building must, at the minimum, contain the following facilities: i) classrooms (ordinary, special and others); ii) a library and a nurse's office; iii) a staff room (see responses to questionnaire). In Mauritius, as per the Mauritius Qualifications Authority (MQA) (Registrations) Regulation 2009, criteria for registration of any vocational training institution include accessibility and environment of premises, workspace per trainee, lighting and ventilation, proper fire exit, toilets for males and females, electricity, water points and telephone, common area for learners, minimum level of hygiene and sanitation, physical condition of building, safety, resource centre/library, laboratory, workshop, kitchenette (sect. 4 (a)). Jeremy Gibberd, “South Africa‟s School Infrastructure Performance Indicator System,” PEB Exchange 2007/6, OECD 2007.