Govt school in Mauli Colony grapples with space crunch

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 20

Students of Government Primary School, Mauli Colony, may come from slum areas, but their aspirations are high. Some want to join the Indian Army and police force, while others aim to become an artist or a teacher.

Being run in a small, rented building owned by the Chandigarh Housing Board, the school for Classes I to V comprises eight classrooms measuring 10x12 sq ft.

One may mistake it for an abandoned building by glancing it from the rear end as mangled pieces of iron and steel are found dumped near the school building.

The scanty dimension of the rooms makes it impossible for the school authorities to keep chairs and benches due to which the students have to sit on mats. Children can also be seen sitting outside classrooms as the rooms are too small to accommodate even 35 of them.

In the absence of a playground, the students are made to play in a park outside the school. “Our students are also selected for Jawahar Navodya Vidyalaya (JNV) scholarship. The MC had spent Rs 15 lakh on the school’s renovation due of which it looks better now. The only problem is that we don’t have a playground,” a school teacher said.