An “unsafe” school building, a shared space with cattle, a single-room structure, and now the promise of a Rs 18-lakh upgrade.
Government Primary School, Rampura-Kanwarpura, has learnt a valuable lesson in maths the past few days: all it takes to multiply things is a few crosses.
Within days of a Cockroach Janta Party protest putting the spotlight on this school that abuts the state capital Jaipur, 18 students and their parents are hoping their wait for a building since an older one was declared unsafe a year ago may finally end.
After cameras caught students attending classes with four cattle tied nearby, they were moved the next day into a room loaned by a fellow villager.
Following a government directive restricting outsider entry into government schools, the two teachers on duty refused access inside the room, or to talk to the media, on Tuesday.
This morning, Dhori Bairwa sent her two sons only at 9.30 am to the school, though classes begin at 8 am. It was raining and the floor on which the students sit can get muddy. While Bairwa’s husband works as a helper at a store, she works as a daily wager.
This was the structure which the students were using when the CJP visited on August 21, leading to a scuffle allegedly with some BJP workers. (Express Photo)
Thankful for the attention that could change the fate of the primary school, and of her children, Dhori says: “We are sending our children here because we have no other option. Private schools charge at least Rs 1,000 per month.”
Another parent, Vijay Singh, who has a daughter in Class 5, is hopeful that given the spotlight, more changes in infrastructure will follow.
Chota Devi owns the room into which the school has moved now. Her three children, who are all adults now, studied at the same school. While two of them are married, a daughter is preparing for government recruitment exams.
Chota says the condition of the Government Primary School was well-known to all. “Even the original school building was about 30 years old, and it was villagers who had donated the land for it so as to have a school nearby. In all these years, its condition had been deteriorating. Around four years back, a portion of the roof started leaking. Then, after the July 2025 incident in Jhalawar, when a school building collapsed killing seven children, the authorities locked the building and shifted the students.”
This was the structure which the students were using when the CJP visited on August 21, leading to a scuffle allegedly with some BJP workers.
Leela Kumari, both of whose daughters studied at the school, says when the original building came up, they were very happy. “We got together to construct it as our children didn’t have anywhere else to go. We thought it would be upgraded over the years, to at least Class 8. But nothing happened. In fact, the school kept getting worse. Students left, many choosing private schools.”
Since Rampura-Kanwarpura is located on the outskirts of Jaipur, there are multiple private schools within a 5-km radius, many of them with transport facilities.
The closest government school, which is up to Class 10, is 4 km away, past an under-construction road and a bridge.
The old school building is now abandoned, with paint peeling, the colourful lettering and murals fading, a scaffolding put up to prevent the roof from collapsing, and construction material dumped next to walls which talk of Swachh Bharat. If there was any furniture, there are no signs of it.
The teachers at the Government Primary School, one of whom has been at the school for 10 years, says they provide Akshay Patra meals. (Express Photo)
Authorities admit it is essentially the mid-day meal that still attracts students to government schools. The teachers at the Government Primary School, one of whom has been at the school for 10 years, says they provide Akshay Patra meals.
District Education Officer Giriraj Pareek says it is wrong to say that Government Primary School students had been moved into a cowshed, as reported by the CJP and others. “It is a home, where a space has been kept aside for cattle, like at any normal house in a village. We thought of it as an immediate solution to shift students as the original building was not safe.”
The new building, Pareek says, will come up soon. “We have sanctioned Rs 12 lakh.”
Another Rs 6 lakh has been given from MLALADS by the local BJP MLA, Kailash Verma.
Following the Rampura-Kanwarpura row, the Bhajan Lal Sharma-led BJP government also announced a three-year, Rs 12,500-crore roadmap for government school buildings across the state – including Rs 2,487 crore for new buildings, Rs 8,378 crore for new classrooms, Rs 1,129 crore for repairs, and Rs 340 crore for new toilet complexes.
CJP leader Ashutosh Ranka, who led the team that visited the Rampura-Kanwarpura school, called the announcement a “major victory” for their outfit, but said “questions remain”. “The government had presented a similar plan in its March 2026 High Court affidavit, though with a five-year timeline instead of three years now.”
A resident of the village, Prahlad Sharma, 60, whose three grandchildren study in a private school, says: “Teachers of the school wrote so many times to the higher authorities, but nobody listened. I hope now things will change.”
The old school building is now abandoned, with paint peeling, the colourful lettering and murals fading. (Express Photo) 
This was the structure which the students were using when the CJP visited on August 21, leading to a scuffle allegedly with some BJP workers. (Express Photo)
The teachers at the Government Primary School, one of whom has been at the school for 10 years, says they provide Akshay Patra meals. (Express Photo)
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