Incessant rains have increased the threat to the lives of thousands of children studying in the dilapidated school buildings across the state. The data of education department suggests that buildings of 518 schools in the state can cave in anytime. An estimated ten thousand students are studying in these schools. There are 479 primary government schools in the state which are running in dilapidated buildings while 39 upper primary schools are operational in such dangerous buildings. Apart from these schools there are 1241 schools in the state which require immediate repairs. The teachers and the parents of the students of these schools have sent many requests to the authorities to repairs and rebuild the school buildings but the education department sites lack of funds as an impediment.
In such a scenario, the students and staff members of these schools are forced to remain inside these schools which pose a constant danger to their lives. “The situation during rainy season becomes very difficult. The roofs of two classrooms of our school leak when it rains and it is impossible to teach students. We have requested the authorities to repair the building but nothing has happened so far,’’ said a teacher posted in Raipur block of Dehradun district.
Interestingly most of the primary schools whose buildings are in shambles are located in mountainous areas of state where natural agencies pose much bigger threat to the buildings than in plains. Tehri district with 117 dilapidated school buildings leads the table of such schools while Dehradun district with 84 such schools is at second position. Pithoragarh with 67 and Almora with 57 such schools are other two districts where the problem is more acute. Pauri district with only four dilapidated school buildings is at the bottom of this list. The education minister Arvind Pandey had recently asked the authorities to ensure that the students are not in these dangerous building during rains. He said that efforts are being made to provide budget for repair and providing furniture to the schools. The government is also taking the help of the industrial houses in this regard, he said.