Govt school in Kishangarh grapples with space crunch

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 17

Government Middle School in Kishangarh is grappling with space constraints as the number of students in the school has increased manifold.

Due to shortage of space in the main building, nearly half of the students are being taught at a nearby dharamshala. Now, the school is running in double shifts from two places.

Established in 1965, the school, which, at present, caters to more than 900 students, once had a strength of 250 students. The student population increased after the school was promoted from primary to to middle school.

According to the Right to Education Act, the school building should have a library for providing newspapers, magazines and books on all subjects, a playground, a kitchen shed, and sports equipment. However, the school lacks all these facilities.

Equipment for science experiments, books, assignments and records are lying unused in shoddy cupboards of classrooms as there was no place to store these.

Makeshift arrangement

During a visit to the nearby dharamshala, it was found that around 450 students were huddled chaotically. Around 50 students of Class V were made to sit in an open space on sackcloth. A traffic barricade had been placed near the class so that children did not get distracted.

A teacher requesting anonymity said, “The dharamshala also houses Indian Post Payment Bank. Sometimes classes are disrupted due to rising footfall of customers.”

Poor pupil-teacher ratio

Two sections of Class VI with more than 80 students are taught together in the morning shift at the dharamshala, while over 100 students of Class IV are taught in the evening shift.

Students fancy new building

The new school building was constructed in 2015, but the Education Department has failed to shift children even after three years of its inception, apparently due to a court case pertaining to the ownership of the land.

While the matter is sub judice, children fancy the new building with the hope of studying with facilities guaranteed under the Right to Education Act.

Monty, a Class VII student, said, “The new building has everything, including computer labs, furnished classrooms, sports equipment. We readily want to shift to the new building. We have been watching the new building for three years, but never got a chance to study there.”

No headway in litigation case

Headmaster Gurpreet Singh said, “Though the officials have been telling us for two years that the school will be shifted, there has been no headway in the case.”

He said, “There is no staffroom for teachers due to which they have to sit in the open. There is no kitchen shed available to store midday meal. Parents, mostly migrants, have high expectations from the school. After seeing the dilapidated condition of the school, a majority of parents have started shifting their wards to private schools.”

What official says

Rubinderjit Brar, Director, School Education, said, “The estate office is doing the needful. All depends on the acquisition process. We are trying our best to start the new session from the new building.”