Children are not allowed to observe and explore natural phenomena, but at the same time they are also not provided opportunity 'to explore the world of books. The concept of a library as a readily available resource for learning simply does not exist in most schools. Even those rare schools that do happen to have a library stock little more than copies of prescribed textbooks, often stored behind locked doors. If children are to be prepared for experiencing the beauty and richness of nature and the fascination of ideas without feeling the curricular load, priority has to be given to developing school libraries and their adequate and appropriate utilisation.

Similarly science laboratories even in the few cases where they are adequately equipped are not used for experimentation and discovery. A laboratory is not perceived as a place where children can conduct even those experiments which are not prescribed in their syllabi and come out with novel observations that need exploratory frameworks. The main purpose of a laboratory programme is to visualise children's natural talents and develop their ability to learn through observation and exploration. Over-regimentation of prescribed experiments with the entire emphasis on getting the final result, is contrary to this spirit. Laboratories should be conceived as exploratories, and schools should have the freedom to structure experiments to suit the needs of their children.

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