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Ludhiana | Dilapidated school building poses risk to kids
The education department in August last year released grants worth ₹43 lakhs to construct a new school building for the students in Ludhiana, but the grant was fully utilised in construction of six classrooms at a nearby location
: Lives of as many as 366 students, studying under the tattered roofs of classrooms in Government Primary School, Jahangirpur, are in sheer risk as the shacky school building is seemingly awaiting a disaster.
The school that has three classrooms and an office of the school headmaster on the right side of the entry gate, which is also used as a classroom, is in shambles.
The title of the school painted on the walls and at the entry gate, helps identify the school that is often mistaken as a dumped and neglected building.
Majority of the students sit on the cold floors of the classrooms, on one side of the small building with an open verandah, food is cooked for the students, while on the other side, the teachers take classes .
When asked about the safety of the students being compromised, head teacher Manmohanjit Singh said, “The new building has been under-construction since last year. We don’t have any option but to make them study in the same building, which of course is risky not only for the students but also for the teachers as the building is weak now.”
The education department in August last year released grants worth ₹43 lakhs to construct a new school building for the students, but the grant was fully utilised in construction of six classrooms at a nearby location.
Despite construction of the new fancy classrooms with ‘building as a learning aid’ (BALA) paintings on the walls; the students have no option but to study in the old school building.
Struggle for grants
Apart from the new school struggling to get the funds for the boundary walls to be built around the newly constructed classrooms, no funds are left for the construction of the toilets.
A teacher said “The department grant was completely used in the construction of the new classrooms. Eventually a private company came forward to fund the construction of the school but due to code of conduct into force during Punjab assembly polls, we couldn’t accept money for further construction.”
“The department is yet to release funds and thus to expedite the work, the funds donated to us by a private company were used to buy furniture for the classrooms,” said another teacher.
An official in the department said goods worth over three lakhs have been kept inside the classrooms.
“We have got new projectors but we can’t install those in the under-constructed school building in absence of the boundary walls. The department should have released the complete grants together,” said another teacher.
District education officer Jaswinder Kaur said due to the code of conduct, the grants were halted but the work will soon be completed now.
