‘It’ll get difficult now that winter is here’: At North MCD schools without desks, benches

With over 1,200 students in the morning and evening shifts, the school is one among the 100 under the North Corporation, where more than 38,000 students are forced to sit on the floor or on mats as there are no desks and benches in classrooms. The North body has 765 schools, where more than 2 lakh students are enrolled under its jurisdiction.

The issue was raised by Congress councillor from Jahangirpuri Poonam Bagri during the corporation’s house meeting Monday.

In one classroom, counsellor Shashi Kanta can be seen advising students after the school received complaints that they were smoking. Stressing the need for better infrastructure at MCD schools, Kanta said, “Most children who study here are from a poor background; they are very vulnerable as they are exposed to bad elements… Therefore, it is important that we give them a good environment and better facilities, including desks and benches, so they come to school regularly and don’t pick up bad habits.”

According to a study by Praja Foundation, the dropout rate at all MCD schools is around 6%. A teacher at the school, who did not want to be named, said: “We have written several letters, but are yet to receive desks and benches. Even teachers don’t have tables.”

Councillor Bagri says she had been pursuing the matter with officials to install desks and benches in three primary schools in her constituency for over a year, but in vain. North body standing committee chairperson Veena Virmani says the delay is because “they can only buy desks and benches from the government e-marketplace web portal, as per MCD rules… but the portal does not have what we require”.

She added that she will call a high-level meeting to discuss the issue and set a realistic deadline to buy the furniture.
Two other primary schools in Bagri’s constituency, in blocks B and C, also present a picture of neglect — apart from lack of benches and desks, the bathrooms are dirty, and plastic is strewn around the premises.

Principal of one such school in block C, Vikram Singh, said: “We have a big campus and just one sanitation worker. There is no security guard during the day… we have to open and close the gate for any visitors.”