After recent checks,civic body has made budgetary provisions to upgrade these schools and provide adequate infrastructure A huge expenditure stares at the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation,which recently inherited seven primary schools from the UT Administration. For,all these schools are suffering from a number of problems from dilapidated buildings to lack of infrastructure and shortage of staff. The building at Government Primary School,Manimajra 1,is on the verge of collapse. The school is divided into two facing buildings. Cracks have surfaced in the pillars of one of them,making it dangerous for the students studying there. Besides,seepage has damaged most walls. According to teachers,they cannot put up any chart on the walls as these get damaged. All the colourful pictures that once adorned the walls have been taken off. Some of the windows are broken and covered with curtains that the teachers have brought from their homes to ensure that the children are saved from the vagaries of weather. The situation at Government Primary School,Manimajra 2,is no different. Due to paucity of space,most classes have to be conducted in an adjoining private school building in the afternoon shift. The rooms here are covered with tin sheds. While there is no question of a playground,the space available is barely sufficient to hold classes. The school shares its boundary with a temple and a case is pending in court over the ownership of land. While the authorities had constructed two rooms in the school,the rest were built by villagers. Most of the seven schools have a common problem lack of furniture. The students are forced to sit on mats spread on the floor inside the classrooms. And there are others who are not even this lucky as their classes are held under the open sky. The condition gets worse in summers and when it rains. Teachers say the rooms have to be constantly cleaned due to seepage of rainwater. The Government Primary School in Mauli Complex is operating out of a building owned by the Chandigarh Housing Board. The rooms measuring 10x8 feet can barely accommodate students,let alone furniture. Nearly 40 to 50 students are cramped in one room and made to sit on the floor. The classrooms are dingy with inadequate ventilation. Shortage of staff is another problem. At the Bapu Dham school,there are 10 teachers for around 1,000 students. The school functions in two shifts in 10 rooms. The MC has taken over the administration of these schools. A team comprising Municipal Commissioner Dr Roshan Sunkaria and Additional Commissioner T P S Phoolka recently conducted checks at all these seven primary schools. It has been decided that the buildings will be upgraded and adequate infrastructure provided. For some schools,new buildings will be constructed. Budgetary provisions for this have been made.
