No school building, 500 pupils forced to study in open in Nuh

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, August 7

Bringing to the fore the poor state of education infrastructure in Nuh, around 500 students of Government Senior Secondary School in Indri village are forced to study in the open for the past two years due in the absence of a building.

Villagers threaten to shut it for good

This isn’t a school, but a joke. We have met the authorities, including the MLA, but could not get a new toilet or a room, leave aside the building. The future of our children is at stake. We’ll shut down the school if nothing is done soon. Kamal Singh, ex-sarpanch, Indri village

At present, the school just has two rooms — principal office and science class-cum-storeroom. Also, the two washrooms are badly damaged. With no classrooms or shelter, the classes remain suspended during monsoon.

According to the school authorities, the earlier building was in a shambles due to which it was pulled down two years ago. Since the school principal, village sarpanch and the girl students have been writing to the Education Department for a new building, but to no avail.

“We sit in the ground that had no boundary wall. Students of different classes are huddled together. We either have to brave harsh summer sun, winter chill or monsoon showers or miss out on the lessons as the classes get suspended. There is no proper washroom for girls and we have to go to our houses to attend nature’s call. Stray dogs can be seen roaming and theft of bags have become common,” said Sandhya, a student.

Talking to The Tribune, school principal Govind Singh confirmed the plight. “We just have two rooms and even teachers have to be in the ground the entire day. The building was razed two years ago, but was not built again. I somehow got the boundary wall built myself. There are no labs or classrooms, which is affecting the studies.”

Meanwhile, angry villagers have threatened to permanently shut down the school.

However, District Education Officer Ramphal Dhankar could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.