Gujarat: Students escape as part of Dahod school building collapses on holiday

According to local residents, parents of the students as well as villagers have been requesting the administration for the past five years to repair the building.

A part of one of the school building’s dilapidated rooms collapsed Sunday, when the students were away. “The incident occurred Sunday afternoon, following heavy rain in the area. The administration had already decided to raze the dilapidated structure and construct new classrooms but the files were not cleared, despite repeated representations… I have petitioned the taluka administration but there was no action,” said headmistress of the school, Ramila Bhedi.

The school, with classes 1 to 5, has been using two of the four rooms in the structure — two dilapidated rooms were vacated a few years ago. The school has students of Class 1 and 2 sitting together in one room and Class 3 and 4 sitting in a room constructed from donations made by a philanthropist. Students of Class 5 attend classes on the porch outside the room that collapsed on Sunday.

Officials of the district education department said that the school renovation is in the pipeline but “measures were taken to ensure that no student is made to sit in the dilapidated section”.

The official added that the administration has made arrangements for students, who refused to be transferred to farther schools, to be admitted to nearby schools as an interim solution.