Schools in TN still operate from sheds

Electric cables dangle low over the roof-top and the exit route for the children on the first floor is only a narrow staircase. ‘‘I can’t send my kids to this school if the thatched roof is not removed,’’ says T. Subramaniam, a local villager. His two children are studying in the school along with 400 other kids. It was just three days ago that the Karuppur panchayat, in which Koranattu Karuppur falls, lost 90 children to the blaze at the Sri Krishna School at Kumbakonam. ‘‘We don’t want a repeat of the tragedy,’’ says Subramaniam, who works at a local cinema hall.

The private school, which has classes upto eighth standard, receives aid from the state government, much like the now-sealed Sri Krishna School. While the thatched shed at the schools in Kumbakonam were removed yesterday, some of the schools in the nearby villages are yet to come under the government scanner.

Just five minutes from Koranattu Karuppur, there is another thatched-roof nursery school — Karthik Vidyalaya English Medium School. At least 60 children between three and five years of age study here as it is the cheapest ‘‘English medium school’’ in the area at a fee of just Rs 30 a month. ‘‘We will remove the thatched shed soon,’’ says the school manager Chellamal.

A short distance away, at Periya Karuppur, 210 girls study at the ‘‘government-aided’’ primary school. But a similar thatched roof covers their heads at the school. ‘‘The government gives a grant of just Rs 3000 a month for the school. How can I provide a concrete roof for the school building?’’ asks Selvakumar, the managing correspondent of the century-old school. However, he has removed the thatched roof over the noon meal centre. ‘‘I will try to remove the thatched roof of the school in four or five days,’’ he says. Till then, the school will remain closed, he adds. However, the State Education Minister, C.V. Shanmugham, assured the media that a state-wide drive had been launched by various departments of the government to remove the thatched sheds in school premises. ‘‘Within two or three days, we will ensure that there is no school functioning in thatched sheds. The other safety aspects of school buildings will also be looked into,’’ he said. He further added that the government would provide funds for construction of ‘‘pucca concrete buildings for the schools’’.

As for Thanjavur district, its collector J. Radhakrishnan said some banks had agreed to pick up the bill for the construction of concrete roofs.