Decade on, Uri school’s 85 students still squeezed into 1 classroom

Boniyar, Aug 13: The residents of Dudran, Boniyar in the Uri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district have expressed concern over the dismal state of education in their village.

For nearly a decade, 85 students of the Government Boys Primary School, Phanaka, Dudran, have been forced to study in a single room due to the severe damage to the school building in 2014.

The school building, constructed in the year 2014, was severely damaged by snowfall shortly after its completion.

Despite the passage of 10 years, no efforts have been made to reconstruct the building, leaving the students to endure extremely challenging learning conditions.

“A small portion of the damaged building was renovated by the teachers, but now all 85 students are crammed into this single room. This reflects the indifference of the authorities towards the students of this far-flung area,” said Muhammad Afzal, a resident.

Due to the lack of space, school materials have been stored in a neighbour's house while the only available room has been allocated to the students.

This overcrowding has disrupted the educational environment, making it difficult for the children to focus and learn.

“How can a single room accommodate 85 students of 8 different classes?" questioned Mehraj-ud-Din, who generously offered a room in his house for the school’s furniture and other materials.

The locals said that there is no further enrolment of students in the school as the school has no space for the students.

The locals said that though the school authorities recently initiated an admission drive for the nursery and pre-nursery classes, seeing the school infrastructure, no one was ready to admit their wards to the school.

“It seems that the Department of Education is exploiting the poor condition of the people of this village. Most of our wards belong to poor families and are being treated as a flock of sheep by forcing them to sit in a single room which is not only overcrowded but also not a place of learning,” said a resident whose ward is a student of the school.

Highlighting the poor state of the school, Muhammad Ashraf, another resident of the area said that though the teachers at the school sometimes take classes in the open, sheep and cows occupy the open space which does not belong to the school, making the situation uncomfortable for the students as well as teachers.

The residents of Dudran village have urged the authorities to take immediate action to reconstruct the school building and provide a safe and adequate learning environment for the children.

Zonal Education Officer (ZEO), Boniyar, Abdul Rehman told Greater Kashmir that the issue was brought to their notice and a team of officials would visit the school and take stock of the situation.

“We will take the matter up with the higher officials for the redressal of the problem,” he said.