The UT education department has failed to meet another deadline, as the new government high school in erstwhile Colony Number 4 in Dhanas is yet to become operational. The school was supposed to start functioning from March but the deadline was extended to May but now the school is slated to be open from March 2016.
Over-enrolment
Although the school was inaugurated amidst much fanfare earlier this year, it is yet to hold classes as there was an over-enrolment of students which breached the enrolment ratio as per the new education policy.
The three-storey building of the senior secondary school has around 42 classrooms and a capacity to hold about 1,600 children of that area.
According to right to education (RTE), a school operating on the smart school model cannot have more than 40 students in a class. However, in case of the senior secondary school at Dhanas, around 3,000 students have been adjusted in 42 classrooms and the school is compelled to run in double shifts.
A senior official of the school requesting anonymity said, “While 1,900 students have been adjusted in the morning shift, another 950 come during the evening shift. The burden of excessive enrolment on the school can only be reduced by opening another school in the area.”
The opening of the high school in Dhanas will largely benefit the girl students as many of them are not allowed to attend schools that are far-off from their residences. Principal of Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Dhanas, Harmeet Kaur said, “Most residents of Dhanas wish to send their children to the schools that are situated in the locality itself. This results in the over-enrolment problem.”
{{/usCountry}}The opening of the high school in Dhanas will largely benefit the girl students as many of them are not allowed to attend schools that are far-off from their residences. Principal of Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Dhanas, Harmeet Kaur said, “Most residents of Dhanas wish to send their children to the schools that are situated in the locality itself. This results in the over-enrolment problem.”
{{/usCountry}}When asked about the delay in opening the new high school in Dhanas, director of public instructions (DPI) (schools) Rubinderjit Singh Brar told HT, “There was some issue pertaining to the revised estimate of the building and hence we were not able to open the school in time. It should open before March next year.”
As for the enrolment issue, the DPI added that the problem would be resolved as the department was working on opening three or four more schools in Dhanas to meet the demands of the residents.
He added that other than these, the department would also be opening more schools in Mauli Colony, Kishangarh and Manimjara.