Year on, govt school students continue to study in panchayat ghar at Sidhupur

It has been more than a year and the students of Government School, Sidhupur, are still attending classes in the panchayat ghar instead of going to their own school. It was in September last year when the roof of the school verandah had collapsed and students had then been shifted to a nearby panchayat ghar.

After a year, a grant of Rs 2 lakh has been released by the Education Department, but the school authorities have not received the same yet. Strangely, 31 students from anganwadi, and pre-primary and primary classes have been studying in a single hall of the panchayat ghar.

It gets difficult for the teachers to manage the kids in one hall. “The anganwadi kids are too young, they cry and then the anganwadi head has to deal with them in a certain way. This creates problem in the class as other kids find it hard to focus,” a teacher said. The school authorities said that the studies were getting affected because every student was studying in the same hall.

As per information, the school building had developed some cracks after floods hit the Lohian block last year. Later, the roof of the verandah collapsed. When the incident had happened, the school authorities had immediately contacted the officials concerned. The then block primary education officer (BPEO), along with officials of the Education Department, had visited the school, but nothing concrete was done and the situation remained the same.

“The BPEO had asked us to take classes in a nearby panchayat ghar. We have also checked the safety of the panchayat ghar. Everything is fine there. We don’t want to compromise students’ safety,” a teacher had then said. But the authorities never knew that they would have to continue teaching the students there only. The parents have also started questioning the teacher on the status of the school, the kitchen and rooms of which are also in a poor condition.

Amandeep Kaur, the school head, said that the grant had been sanctioned now. “I am hopeful that we will receive it soon. Also, I am thankful to the newly formed panchayat as well as they are ready to provide every monetary help to the school,” she said.

Baljit Kaur (31), deputy branch manager in a private bank, is the new sarpanch of Sidhupur village, Lohian. She said that her priority was the renovation of the school. “We will do whatever it takes to ensure that the students are studying safely in their own school,” she maintained.