Pupils attend classes in open at Sanjay Nagar govt school

Sameer Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 19

In the absence of adequate number of classrooms, the students of primary wing of Government Senior Secondary School, Sanjay Nagar, have been attending classes in the verandah and on the terrace, which just has a tin roof overhead.

Notably, as part of the repair and renovation work, the school building housing the primary wing was demolished few months ago. As a result, in the absence of classrooms, students of pre-nursery and primary wing have been attending classes in the open.

In the current academic session, there are 485 students in 13 sections of the pre-nursery and primary wing of the school who, for want of space, had to be accommodated in six classrooms, one verandah and a terrace of the school. The situation is such that more than 100 students of Class V had to be stuffed inside a single dingy classroom. The students find it difficult to sit properly and therefore, are not able to focus on studies.

The school teachers said the matter was brought to the notice of the District Education Department but so far, no concrete steps have been taken to ensure classrooms for the students.

A teacher, requesting anonymity, said it was still manageable for now but things were bound to get out of control when the temperature would soar further in May and June. Attending classes in verandah and terrace with only a tin shed overhead would be really difficult for the students.

Sources said the tin roof on the terrace was installed on temporary basis and would be uprooted even by a mild storm or wind. There were talks that the students might be shifted to ITI, Bathinda, in the current academic session but later on, a decision was taken against it by the authorities concerned.

Sources said apart from lack of classrooms, there was a lack of washrooms and drinking water facility too in the school. Classrooms, washrooms and drinking water are all very basic necessities to run a school and the Education Department had failed to provide even that. Also, attending classes in the open during peak summer season would make the kids vulnerable to many diseases.

Meanwhile, parents of prospective students coming for admissions in the school have started getting apprehensive after finding out that their kids would have to attend classes in the open.

Hardeep Singh, DEO, Elementary, said “We will try to accommodate the students at some other place temporarily. I am planning to visit the school soon and after consulting the teachers and local officials, I will work out a possible solution to the matter.”

Rajinder Singh, a spokesperson for the state Education Department, said “We will ask the DEO to file a report of the situation at ground level. After that, we will try to make temporary arrangements to accommodate these students.”