Edu Dept officials assess flood damage to schools

The floods caused by the Ravi inflow into Sakki Nallah for the past few days have hampered school infrastructure in most of the villages in Ajnala and Ramdas area. With government schools suffering damage to infrastructure, the district education officials have begun assessment of the damage caused to these schools under the education blocks of Ajnala-2 and Chogawan-2. A district-level team has been constituted to report the impact of floodwaters on the infrastructure of government schools.

District Education Officer Rajesh Kumar Sharma and District Education Officer (DEO) (elementary) Kanwaljit Singh visited the flood-affected schools and assessed the damage caused by the floodwaters. The team inspected the Government Elementary Schools at Harar Khurd, Kotli Amb, Gujarpura, Talwandi Rai Dadu, Chak Aul, Dabar, Poonga, Jasraur, Bhindi Saidan, Kot Sidhu and Karial, Government Middle Schools at Kotli Amb, Talwandi Rai Dadu and Shahpur, Government High School at Karial, Government Senior Secondary School, Bhindi Suidan and Othian, and assessed the damage.

“Floods have affected the infrastructure of most government schools,” said DEO Rajesh Sharma. Most of the school buildings in Ajnala and Lopoke tehsils have been badly affected with boundary walls fallen, classrooms and buildings leaking with water seepage and playgrounds having wild growth It will take a lot of effort and work from our side to ensure that we make them fit for operations again,” said Sharma.

He further said that it would take an estimated one month or so for some schools to re-open will full capacity. Headmaster Sarfaraz Singh Kotli and Raj Kumar, a computer teacher from government school in Chamiari, Ajnala, shared how parents approach them every other day to know when the schools would open.

“Most high or senior secondary schools in the area have student strength of 300-400, while elementary schools have strength of 500-600 students. Our kitchen, cooking area for mid-day meals and even washrooms have algae growth and we need to rebuild some of the furniture as well as boundary walls and classrooms to ensure they are safe for students. People here are anxious as their wards studies might take a hit,” said Sarfaraz Singh Koti. In several schools, the water storage tanks have been damaged, school building still have moisture and are deemed unsafe.

Meanwhile, DEO Rajesh Sharma has ordered that students of government schools can go to study in any government school of nearby area, where they have shifted to temporarily from flood-affected areas. “Knowing that many children from submerged villages were taken by their families to live with their relatives, we have allowed them to continue school from wherever they are,” said Sharma.

The school curriculum has been already remained disrupted this year, earlier due to border escalation between India and Pakistan after Pahalgam attack and later due to heavy monsoon and flooding in the area. Sharma said that the teachers had been instructed to help children go through syllabus without compromising on learning.

In many government schools today, the teachers began the process of cleaning and sanitising the schools. As DEO Sharma held a meeting with school management committees in Ajnala, the government schools buildings at Bhala village, Kukaranwala, Ajnala reopened for cleaning and sanitising. Team of officials also visited Government Primary Schools at Dudhrai, Dalam, Mahilwala, Sahansara Kalan, Ghukewali, Ucha Qila and Kukaranwala and expressed satisfaction over the cleaning and sanitising work being done in the school complex. Besides, teachers were made aware of several safety protocol standards after re-opening of the schools.

Despite Education Department of Punjab ordering re-opening of all government, government-aided and private schools in the state, floodwaters are still present in many villages in Amritsar and Gurdaspur. The Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, has ordered that all schools in Ajnala and Lopoke of the district will remain closed till September 12, while the remaining schools of the district will open as per the department orders while completing the cleaning process of the schools.