179 schools run from shabby, unsafe rented accommodations in Srinagar

Srinagar, Oct 20: Situated just a kilometer from Srinagar-Baramulla highway, Government Middle School S K Colony Qamarwari is functioning from the ground floor of a building which houses a factory in its upper storey.

The school located on the backside of the Police Housing Colony has only four rooms for eight classes on the ground floor. It has become a herculean task for the teachers to accommodate the students in the congested shabby rooms.

A visit to the school depicts poor infrastructural standards in the government schools which have been running in rented rooms since their establishment. The school speaks volumes about the much neglected government education system at ground level. The school has no ground or other basic facilities for the students which are requisite for the school. “This school has no facets to be called as an educational institution and there are so many schools in the district which are functioning from shabby rooms in the same condition,” an official said.

Government Middle School S K Colony is not the only school which is deprived of the basic facility, but there are around 179 other such schools in the city that are operating from dilapidated rented rooms where students are cramped together by the concerned teachers.

Besides lack of drinking water, toilet and electricity facilities, there are no benches in the classrooms for the students who are assembled in different groups in one room.

Most of the educational institutions lack ground facilities depriving the students of extracurricular activities. “The schools which are operating from rented buildings have either broken windows or the roof top is partly shattered and the walls are worn out,” the official said.

The official said there are some primary schools in parts of the city which are running from a single room and the MDM is cooked and served in the same room which serves as a classroom for the school kids.

“What sort of reform can we expect in these schools where a student is not provided proper classroom facility? The students in these rented buildings are crammed in such a way that teachers cannot set up proper seating arrangements for these students,” a school teacher said, wishing not to be named.

As per the official figures, there are around 505 schools out of which around dozens of schools were clubbed during previous years and 475 schools are presently functioning in the city.

“Out of these schools 179 schools including some high schools are functioning in rented rooms,” the official said.

As part of the policy, the School Education Department (SED) does not provide any toilet or drinking water facility for the kids in rented schools. “The Department has made it mandatory for the building owner to ensure these facilities as he is paid the rent for the building. But the owner never takes pains to provide such facilities and the students are left at the receiving end,” the school teacher said.

Besides basic facilities, the students in these schools are deprived of all other interventions like CAL centres or ICT laboratories as well.

“There is no provision with the department to equip schools with these facilities as the buildings are not treated as government property,” the official said.

Srinagar is not the only district where the government-run schools are operating in pathetic condition. The condition of hundreds of schools in other districts across Kashmir reveals the abysmal state of the education system.

Recently, the Ministry of Education (MoE) rejected the list of the schools identified for infrastructure improvement under the prestigious Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme.

The schools were rejected for not fulfilling the necessary standards, primarily due to their deplorable infrastructure.

Notably, the Government of India (GoI) has been pumping in huge amount for civil works under Samagra Shiksha but the funds worth crores go down the drain.

Advisor to J&K Lieutenant Governor Rajiv Rai Batnagar when contacted admitted the challenges faced by the department in equipping the rented schools.

“This is a real problem as we are not in position to equip the renetd schools with basic facilities. But the department is aware of the situation and I will also take up the matter with the Secretary Education department,” Batnagar told Greater Kashmir.