LUDHIANA: An inquiry was ordered on Thursday by deputy education officer (DEO) Swaranjit Kaur after the Childline foundation received a complaint from an unknown caller regarding the overstuffing of students in classrooms of GHP Public Senior Secondary School.
Amid extremely hot and humid weather conditions, the students of nursery to Class V at the school are being taught in overcrowded classrooms with only a few ceiling fans that fail to provide any comfort in the heat.
Childline Ludhiana director Kuldeep Singh Mann and coordinator Balraj Singh Grewal escalated the complaint with the DEO, following which she marked an inquiry to Pakhowal government senior secondary school principal Balvir Kaur.
Describing the worrying situation, Mann said, “There were over 70 students lodged in one room which has two ceiling fans. Moreover, it was found that around 75 students were studying in the nursery class, 69 in LKG, 68 in UKG, 63 were pupils of Class I, 61 of Class II, and 60 students of Class V, were all jam-packed in their respective classrooms.”
The condition at the school was so bad that students were unable to move in their classes due to the congested atmosphere and in such seething weather conditions.
According to the Right to Education Act, only limited number of students can be adjusted in one
classroom, which is approximately 30 students.
Adding to the distress, it was found that each classroom has only two ceiling fans. The kids were left perplexed in the heat amid hardly any space to move.
Shockingly, in the classrooms of fifth graders, which is packed with 60 pupils on a daily basis, has only one ceiling fan, making difficult for students breathe in such hot and humid rooms.
Ironically, these little students are expected to learn and perform well under such circumstances.
When asked about the poor infrastructure conditions at the school, principal Bhupinder Singh told TOI, “The school will provide fans before July 14 and other issues will be solved within a month.”
Representative image
