In absence of school building, students forced to have classes in open

UDHAMPUR, March 18 (HS):Students of Government Higher Secondary School Damnote in Tehsil Pancheri are forced to have classes under open sky as the authorities have so far failed to construct the school building, which had collapsed two years back because of heavy rain and windstorm.

Aggrieved over alleged callous attitude of the School Education Department, students and local villagers held a strong protest demonstration, here today and demanded construction of the new school building. According to the local Sarpanch, Hans Raj Thakur, the school was upgraded to 10+2 in the year 2005 but it remained functioning in the old building of Primary and Middle School, which collapsed two years back.

The Higher Secondary School had only two rooms for the total student’s strength of above 500, including 300 girls and 200 boys. However, with the collapse of this two- room school building, the students are left with no option but to have their classes under open sky, the Sarpanch said, adding that in case of bad weather, there is ought to be an un-official holiday.

The villagers demanded emergent steps like tenting facility for the time being so that students may not face problems in having classes till the new building is constructed. They also demanded proper sitting arrangement and toilet facility for the students. The villagers urged the higher authorities to depute a special team for the spot visit and take necessary steps to re-construct the school building with adequate infrastructure.

Prominent among those who addressed the gathering included, Panch Karan Singh, Panch Govind Singh, Jeet Singh, Puran Singh and Raghunath Singh. When contacted, CEO Udhampur, P D Sharma said that funds have already been allocated for construction of the school building but land for the same was not available as the present location of the school comes under sliding zone. He assured immediate construction work once the land is identified.