130 students elbow for space in a three room school
Anantnag: A government middle school in Trajan Alsadar village of Verinag zone in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district has around 130 students but the school has only three rooms out of which one serves as an office for the school while as two rooms are used as classrooms for the students.
“One might find it hard to believe that 130 students enrolled in eight different standards are taught in two rooms but the lack of basic infrastructure is forcing teachers to bundle the children in just two rooms,” said a local resident.
“One can imagine the quality of education the kids enrolled here must be getting as students from Ist to 4th standard are crammed in one room while as students of 5th to 8th are piled up in another,” he added.
An official of education department said that Govt primary school Trajan was established in year 1986 and it was later upgraded to a middle school some years back.
“But since the school falls in upper belt of Anantnag district, it has not seen any kind of development in its infrastructure since its establishment,” he added.
“The tall claims of the government for taking the education sector to new heights are get punctured once you see the infrastructural standards of this school,” said a government school teacher, who wishes not to be named even though he teaches at a different school.
Notably, the three room school building was constructed in early 1990’s but since then the school has not witnessed any improvement in infrastructure.
The existing three rooms are also in a dilapidated condition besides the school has no washroom constructed despite that land is available in the school premises.
Even when authorities are claiming that there are separate toilets facilities for girl students everywhere in government schools across the valley but this school has been left out on that front as well, said an official of the education department.
He added that the school has not only been neglected in terms of infrastructure, but in terms of academics as well.
“The school has just four teachers for 8 classes who take turns to teach the 130 students enrolled here,” the official added.
Locals said that area is economically backward and the local kids are entirely dependent for their educational needs on this very school.
On contacting, Abdul Roub Shaad, Chief Education Officer, he said that there might not be land available or land may be sloppy where constructing a building may not be feasible.
“I will check where the problem lies and every possible step will be taken that will benefit the students,” he said.
Jahangeer Ganaie
