E-Paper
Little elbow room for education in Ludhiana government schools
Even though the government schools in Ludhiana have been registering a hike in enrolment of students for the last few years, there is a severe shortage of classrooms in government schools
Ayushi, a grade 3 student, is the first from her family, which hails from Bihar, to attend a school. Her enthusiasm, however, is swept away everyday in a sea of students who are packed like sardines at her school that has just 20 classrooms for nearly a whopping 2,400 pupils.
The story of government primary school, Dhandari Khurd, is not an isolated one. Even though the government schools in Ludhiana have been registering a hike in enrolment of students for the last few years, there is a severe shortage of classrooms, posing a serious question on the quality of education being imparted in the state-run institutions.
While over 20 upper primary schools for classes 6 to 12 in the district are running in two shifts due to a lack of classrooms, the primary schools are holding multiple classes in each classroom to accommodate the increased strength of students.
Students fail to take advantage of smart classrooms as it is not possible to manage lessons for such a large number of students in one shift.
The school is among over a dozen primary schools in the urban pockets of the industrial city which are facing the problem of lack of rooms resulting in overcrowded classrooms along with the absence of playgrounds and empty space to hold morning assemblies and serve mid-day meals.
These schools have witnessed a 30 to 40 per cent increase in the number of enrolled students and this year too, the enrolment is set to increase by 10 per cent, but to accommodate the new enrolments, especially pre-primary and class 1 to 5, is a major worry, according to teachers.
The school at Dhandari Khurd has already enrolled over 400 students and registrations are likely to double by the end of the session, according to school authorities.
GPS Haibowal has seen a fourfold increase in the number of students from 360 in 2017 to 1,726 in 2022. Here, multiple classes are held in each classroom, and the school which has 38 teachers, only has 18 classrooms. The pre-primary section of the school only has two rooms for around 300 students.
A teacher of the school requesting anonymity said that as two teachers take classes in a single room, we manage by lecturing the students in turns. She added that as the government provides one projector per classroom, the smart classes are also held in turns.
Other schools which face the same problem include - GPS Dhandari Kalan which has 15 classrooms for 1,726 students, GPS Giaspura which has 53 rooms for 5,193 students, and Dhandari Khurd, which has just eight classrooms for 2,388 students.
Till March 11, as many as 4,056 students were admitted to pre-primary classes, including lower kindergarten and upper kindergarten, while 3,510 were admitted to classes 1 to 5.
The primary schools in the four education blocks of the district - Ludhiana-1, Ludhiana-2, Mangat-1, and Mangat-2 received around 1,100 students under the primary cadre. The slow process to increase the rooms at the facilities is hampering their functioning, especially classroom learning, said a primary school principal
She said that factors behind the spike in the number of students in these schools are the increase in the number of migrant and industrial workers in these areas and the shift from private schools to government schools post Covid.
A primary school teacher requesting anonymity said that most of the primary schools face the problem of not having enough space to create more rooms. She added that the process to receive funds for rooms is slow and tardy.
GPS Chanan Devi, which has over 1,100 students has just 10 classrooms, and in absence of a ground, students attend the assembly on the terrace.
Deputy district education officer (elementary education) Jasvinder Singh said that every year, the schools share the data with the department for the infrastructure-related requirements, including classrooms and bathrooms, which are implemented through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
Acknowledging the problem of lack of classrooms, he added that many schools have sent their demands for rooms. Funds are granted according to the strength of the students, and the process to issue the same will be completed in the first few days of the new session, he added.
Another teacher requesting anonymity said that even though the enrolment campaign has started, it would not benefit the students if the shortage of classrooms is not addressed.
