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Ludhiana: Nine years on, this government school students continue to attend classes in corridor
Shifted after their building was declared unsafe in 2017, 66 students of Government Primary School A-1 continue to study from another school campus as a land dispute stalls construction of a new building
Nearly nine years after its building was declared unsafe, 66 students of Government Primary School (GPS), A-1 continue to attend classes in a corridor of another government school campus, with no classrooms of their own.
Shifted from Kucha No. 16 in 2017 after its building became unfit for use, the school now functions from the Government Primary School and Government High School campus on Shahpur Road, where the primary school operates on the ground floor and the high school on the first floor, leaving the displaced students to study in the corridor.
The arrangement has exposed students to extreme weather conditions for years while disrupting teaching and affecting enrolment.
Headteacher GPS A-1 Dilpreet Kaur said, “The children spend the entire academic session studying in the corridor, enduring scorching summers, winter chill and heavy downpour.”
“The absence of proper classrooms has discouraged parents from enrolling their children in the school as any parent would want their child to study in a classroom rather than in a corridor,” the headteacher added.
The Shahpur Road campus itself is grappling with a shortage of space. Headteacher of Shahpur Road campus Jashanjeet Kaur said, “The primary school has more than 170 students but only six classrooms. Around 35 to 40 students are accommodated in each classroom, while all three kindergarten sections are being run from a single small room. Despite the constraints, space is shared with GPS A-1 whenever a classroom becomes available.”
Dilpreet said GPS A-1 has three sanctioned teachers, including herself, but all of them teach in the same shared corridor as the students sit together in one place.
Academic initiatives such as Mission Samrath are also conducted there, while mid-day meals are served to students at their desks because there is no separate space.
Teachers said that after the original building became unsafe, the school was temporarily shifted to a nearby vacant plot, where classes were held under tents. However, construction of a new school building could not begin after a dispute over the ownership of the land reached the Punjab and Haryana high court. According to them, the landowner is unwilling to transfer the land to the government.
The teachers added that several local political leaders have visited the school over the years and assured them of a permanent solution, but none has materialised.
Deputy district education officer (Elementary) Manoj Kumar said, “The construction of the new building cannot begin until the court case is resolved. The education department is also in talks with local MLAs to explore the possibility of arranging a room or another building so that students can get proper classrooms.”
