A 3.5km walk through dense jungle to reach govt schools
The children from Gari Fazil, Gari Sheru and Gari Togar villages walk or ride their bicycles through a 3.5km dense stretch of the Mattewara jungle every day to reach their schools and study.
{Believe it or not!}
The children from Gari Fazil, Gari Sheru and Gari Togar villages walk or ride their bicycles through a 3.5km dense stretch of the Mattewara jungle every day to reach their schools and study.
The students are forced to face the ordeal as there are no transportation facilities available to reach the Government Senior Secondary School, Kadiana Kalan, and Government High School, Mattewara.
Most of the students from classes 8 to 12 commute alone through the stretch and often come across animals.
The students said as their parents can’t pick or drop them because of their jobs, they have no choice but to travel alone, or in groups when they can find company.
A girl student of Class 11 at the Kadiana Kalan school said, “My father drops me to school on his two-wheeler on rainy days. But it is not possible every day as both my parents work. I have to walk through the forest every day.”
A girl student from Mattewara high school said that as compared to the morning, it is difficult to cross the forest in the afternoon.
“On our way back home, there usually are junkies sitting in the forest area. It is harrowing and we prefer travelling in groups. There are times when a couple of us are on leave and someone is left with no option than skipping school as it is not safe to commute alone,” she added.
State education minister Harjot Singh Bains said, “A pilot project called ‘Nawian Rahan’ was introduced in the Patiala district. It was aimed at providing free transportation through e-rickshaws to every student at government schools. It showed tremendous results with improved attendance and enhanced safety and security. We plan to launch the same in the rest of the districts so that no student finds commuting to the schools difficult.”
A Class 8 student said that they ask someone for a lift as it becomes difficult to commute for an hour on foot.
“Sometimes, we ask for a lift from someone as we do not even have bicycles. It is quite exhausting to walk for more than one hour in the morning and it affects our studies,” he said.
A Class 11 student said they are troubled by monkeys on the way. “There have been incidents when monkeys snatched our belongings. We must carry a stick on our way to school and back home. There is no three-wheeler facility as well. A few students have their own scooters, but it is difficult for those of us in middle classes. It would have been better if we also got bus facilities, like the government is providing in schools of eminence,” he said.
‘Had to forego SOE seat due to lack of transport’
Many students said they had to sacrifice their dream of studying in the schools of eminence (SOEs) due to the unavailability of transportation facilities.
Two girls from Kadiana Kalan school who were selected for the SOE, Indrapuri, said that they had to forego their seats as it was not feasible for them to commute for more than two hours on bicycles every day. “After knowing about the SOEs and the facilities and exposure there, we wanted a seat for better opportunities. But after selection, we could not arrange transportation and had to quit on our dream,” said the girl students.