Chandigarh, May 15
Poor sanitary conditions, stinking toilets, children sitting on the floor due to shortage of benches. Such are the conditions prevailing at Government Model High School, Sector 39, making a mockery of the city’s education culture.

A visit to the school revealed that the students were not provided safe drinking water. The school authorities told this correspondent that they had stored potable water in earthen pots. On inspection, it was found that some of the pots did not have lids. Even the water served to this correspondent was not ‘clean’.

Toilets used by the children were so stinky that one could not pass through the lobby without putting a handkerchief on nose. Moreover, the stagnant water in the sink was spilling all over because of logging in the outlet pipes.

But the headmistress Aruna Sharma had hundreds of reasons to justify all that. “We have shortage of sweepers. At present, there is only one sweeper do the cleaning. Today, she is on leave so there is no one to look after the cleanliness,” said the headmistress. “We have apprised the DEO office of our unhygienic conditions a number of times, but they never bothered,” she added.

It’s not that all toilets were dirty, there were some which were very well kept, but those were reserved for the teachers and headmistress. Who takes care of these toilets then?

This is not all. Deepak and Rakesh, students of Class IX, were made to miss their classes to check ‘indiscipline’ by other children. “We have been assigned this duty by our teacher. Our job is to see that the students should not create any ruckus,” they said.

Due to shortage of benches in the school, students of three language classes - Hindi, Punjabi and Sanskrit - were made to sit on the floor. The headmistress tried to hide this fact but later she agreed and tried to justify it in her own way. “Actually, there is acute shortage of space in our school. The department has sanctioned Rs 75 lakh for constructing more rooms but the work has not been started as yet,” she said.

One room of the school had been converted into a library storing hardly any books. The computer lab was having only one computer. The half-constructed portion of the top floor had iron bars lying outside which could cause fatal accidents. The headmistress said she had written to the DPI (S) office in March about their requirement of 10 computers, 12 computer tables, 150 benches for students and 20 chairs for teachers, but was still awaiting it.

“Some of our furniture has been shifted to the new school opened at Sector 56. I have sent my teachers, too, there. It is only with the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan teachers that we are carrying on,” agreed the headmistress. 

Chandigarh, May 15
At least 250 students attended a free three-day certificate course in animation — 'Edumation 07' — held at the ICSSR complex, Panjab University, today. The course is being organised by Animation Live, premium production resource for 3D computer animation and graphics.

Vinod Kapoor, CEO, Animation Live, said the centre had been set up to bring about a revolution in the field of multimedia and animation education.

Ravinder Sharma, senior faculty member, Government College of Art, was the chief guest on the occasion. He applauded the efforts of the management for organising the course.

Chandigarh, May 15
Children of the Government Institute for Mentally Retarded Children (GIMRC), Sector 32, installed a sales counter for selling self-manufactured spices at Government Model Senior Secondary School (GMSSS), Sector 32, here, today. The event was inaugurated by Dr B.S. Chavan, joint director, GIMRC-32.

Students of the school were motivated by their principal Anil Sharma to help in this noble cause by purchasing their products from their pocket money. “This will go a long way for the rehabilitation of mentally challenged persons and their families. The sale counter will be set up for a day every month in the school. It’s bound to change the way we live in this world,” said the principal.

Chandigarh, May 15
'Kaifi aur Main', a production put together by Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar, one of the most enduring and creative duos in the film industry, is scheduled to be staged on May 20 at Tagore Theatre. The play is being brought together by the Durga Das Foundation, Spice Telecom and The Tribune.

Relying not just on personal memoirs, but tracking Kaifi’s lyrics, bits of his life and anecdotes that are recounted by those closest to him, they have woven together a deeply moving account.

As a poet-activist-writer, his closest aide was his wife Shaukat Azmi.

The play relies heavily on her experiences. Knit together as a theatrical collage, it is scripted by Javed Akhtar and it sequentially tracks the poet's life from his humble beginnings to his falling in love and a marriage that lasted 55 years.