Locals creating hurdles in construction of building for Nadihal school: CEO Baramulla

Baramulla, Apr 5: The education authorities in Baramulla have put the blame on the local residents of the Nadihal area for creating hurdles in construction of building for the primary school. Government Primary school Nadihal is currently operating from a single room due to which the student enrollment has also started declining.

This newspaper in its Saturday edition carried a story highlighting the official apathy faced by the school.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, Chief Education Officer (CEO) Baramulla Altaf Hussain Tara acknowledged the dearth of accommodation in school and said he personally visited the school and also deputed officials from planning department to ascertain the ground situation.

"The basic issue is that the locals are creating hurdles in construction of the building as they do not allow us to cut the walnut trees where we can construct the school building," CEO Baramulla said. He said the walnut trees have to be uprooted there, which will pave the way for construction of the building. "But the locals do not cooperate with us," he told Greater Kashmir.

However, he said that the department has still planned to construct an Additional Classroom (ACR) on the patch of land available between the two walnut trees.

"The classroom will be constructed this year. The classroom has not been enlisted in the annual plan but the department will manage it through other means to provide accommodation to the students," CEO Baramulla told Greater Kashmir. As already reported, the enrollment of this school has declined from 90 to 70 in the current year.

All these students are accommodated in the single room available and at times the students attend the classes under open sky. Taking classes on their desks and benches is a distant dream for the students of this school. The school is located at a distance of nine kilometres from CEO Office Baramulla and two kilometres from Baramulla-Handwara. Meanwhile, CEO Baramulla said they are looking for an interim arrangement till the Additional Class Room gets constructed at the premises. "We had suggested the teachers that the students would be shifted to a nearby high school located at a distance of 200 to 300 metres. But there are apprehension whether the students will go to that school," he said. He said the nearby Government High School has adequate accommodation to accommodate the students of this primary school. "We will look for all possible options keeping in view the interest of the students," he said.