Dilapidated school buildings constant threat to students’ lives

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Gorakhpur (Fatehabad), April 20

Two government schools in Gorakhpur village of Fatehabad district are a picture of neglect. While the dilapidated buildings pose a constant threat to the lives of students, their studies are also suffering due to lack of teaching staff.

Government Girls Senior Secondary School has 15 rooms. A teacher says they wrote to the authorities concerned to assess the safety aspect of the building after the roof of a room caved in last year. The Public Works Department (PWD) inspected the building and declared 12 rooms unsafe for use. These 12 rooms were abandoned, he adds. Classes are now being held in the remaining three rooms.

The school also faces shortage of teachers. Though it offers science and commerce stream for girls in Classes XI and XII, no teacher is posted to teach subjects in these two streams. “The government upgraded the school from Class X to 10+2 and offered arts, commerce and science streams, but it failed to provide faculty,” says a teacher.

The situation is no different at the Government Boys Senior Secondary School located half a km from the girls’ school. There are only four rooms for students besides a laboratory, a library and a staff room. The school has no teacher for mathematics, English and science for Classes VI to X.

Madan Lal, District Education officer, admits that both schools are facing staff shortage. He says the department will fill the vacancies depending on the availability of teachers. On repair and maintenance of the buildings, he could only express hope that the government would someday release grants.

Meanwhile, Hosiar Singh, an official of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, Gorakhpur, says they have a plan to improve infrastructure in the region under the neighbourhood development project. “We have constructed toilets in the two schools and more will be done to improve infrastructure,” he adds.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Central government has planned to set up a nuclear power plant in Gorakhpur village.