The October 8 quake claimed a victim that was vital to the life of this far-flung district: the lone Girls Higher Secondary school.Today, the school barely survives in three khaki tents and two tin sheds donated by the state police. And the teachers are finding it an uphill job to coax the students back to the ‘classroom’.Only a handful of 300 students turned up the day classes resumed. ‘‘Students are still in shock over the quake,’’ said Subash Chander Sharma, the principal. ‘‘We lost one Seema, our brightest girl. Dozens of students were injured.’’ He, however, is still thankful. ‘‘Had the quake struck a little later, all of us would have died.’’The spacious concrete classrooms and laboratory blocks are now huge pile of debris.‘‘Our school was one of the best educational institutes of the Uri. God knows how long it will take to rebuild the buildings,’’ he added. Only 25 students came for the first day of classes. Many left in minutes.‘‘It took us hours to persuade the students to sit. They seem to have lost interest,’’ said Showket Ahmad, a teacher. ‘‘I am sure after some time they all would be normal’’.Laying aside lessons, the teachers concentrated on counselling the students.‘‘All the girls are in shock,’’ said Javid Ahmad, school’s physical education teacher. ‘‘Before the quake, our classrooms were full of fun and laughter. Now they all are in a somber mood’’. The majority of students have lost their houses and relatives.‘‘I am in a fix. What to do inside the class?’’ said Shazia, a student of Class X. ‘‘I’ve lost my house and the books as well. It will take me years to concentrate on studies again’’.Another student, Saba, who lives in Dachi — one of the worst-affected villages of the quake, said: ‘‘I lost my friend and class fellow Seema in the quake. I will never forget her.’’A few torn charts with Urdu quotations and uneven rows of broken chairs are all that has been left intact of the school. To impart a semblance of a normalcy to the sheds and tents, the teachers have placed signboards marking Class X, XI and XII.‘‘This is a symbolic school and we will run it successfully,’’ said Sharma, who now plans a journey through the ruined villages of his students.
