For e-learning school, MC will have to learn the ropes

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 16

Even as the Municipal Corporation is mulling over running an e-learning school, it seems to have forgotten to take care of the seven primary schools being run by it.

These educational institutions are in a shambles. One of them is being run from a congested kothi in Mauli Jagran while the other one at the Railway Colony has no benches and students are forced to sit on the floor. Ditto is the situation at other schools where there is nothing in the name of infrastructure, lighting, security, playground and hygiene. The staff too is inadequate.

“We have written to the authorities concerned to fix the problem of electricity and broken building walls which may collapse anytime, but there has been no response from there end. A part of the building is in dire straits,” said a schoolteacher at Bapu Dham Colony.

Mayor Asha Kumari Jaswal said: “We had paid a visit to the schools. Railway Colony school lacks space to accommodate benches. We want to bring some changes, but due to space constraints we are helpless. To solve the problem, we are planning to get land in Mauli Jagran and build an e-learning school where all seven school students will be shifted.”

MC Commissioner B Purushartha added: “The civic body has passed some budget for the renovation of the building and arranging benches for all classrooms. Hopefully, it will be done soon.”

The irony is that the MC, which wants to follow the Pune Municipal Corporation’s move, has a meagre budget of around Rs 55 lakh while the latter has an annual budget of Rs 5 crore for its Rajiv Gandhi e-learning school. But the Mayor had said budget was not a problem and could be managed.

Pune school has students from BPL families and slum areas. They don’t have to pay fee. The school provides free uniform, books, breakfast and lunch to the students. The learning process is fun as it is done through interactive media. “A number of students take admission in the IIT and medical colleges every year,” said councillors.