No end to students’ ordeal studying inside leaking tents

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, September 19

Left homeless due to floods, 13-year-old Hardeep Singh and Jashandeep Singh get a little time to prepare for the exam that would be held tomorrow.

They take out their books and study inside a ‘leaking’ tent. The folding bed on which they sit is drenched by incessant rain since morning. The rainwater has entered their tents and ruined everything.

At present, mid-term exams are being held in schools.

For kids, who lost their houses in deluge, life is proving to be the hardest exam ever. Most of them are students of the Government Middle School, Mundi Cholian. They are unable to study because of difficult living conditions.

There are many such children, who have been staying in tents at Nahl Mandi in Lohian, for over 70 days. Some of them do not even have books. All day, children try to cope up with extreme weather conditions. Today, they helped their family members drain out rainwater from tents. Education has taken a backseat as they do not get proper time and favourable environment to study.

Hardeep Singh’s father died years ago and he lives with his mother and three siblings in a tent. “My mother works as a daily wager and feeds us. Living here is not easy at all. Rainwater entered our tent today,” he shared.

Jashandeep Singh said he was preparing for a science exam to be held on Wednesday. “I just have books for two subjects. Books of other subjects were swept away in floodwater,” he said.

Sona Singh (13) and Jaspreet Kaur (12) also shared the ordeal they were facing. “I was born in a house that collapsed in the floods at Dhakka Basti. I visited the house five days ago. I felt emotional on seeing bricks lying all around. I don’t know when we would get a proper shelter to live in,” he said.

For Jaspreet Kaur, there is just one concern, when would all this end? “The weather was very hot during the last few days. Now, there is water everywhere. I don’t know when this would end. We cannot even study,” she said in a feeble tone.

Kulwinder Singh, head teacher of the Government School, Mundi Cholian, who is also the district president of the Democratic Teachers Union (DTF), said he had arranged books and notebooks for students. “We ensure that that students get proper education in schools. At Mandi, students are studying on their own, which is definitely a challenge for them,” he said.