Just two teachers run this two-room school in Hyderabad's Borabanda

For lack of sufficient space, during the midday meal, the students are served food in batches. The school, which was started in 2012 with just two students, now has 166 students.

Published: 04th January 2019 03:18 AM | Last Updated: 04th January 2019 09:34 AM | A+A A-

Students of the Government Primary school at SPR Hills in Vinayak Nagar have their midday meals in the corridor. (Below) A teacher handles two classes in one of the two available rooms | R Satish Babu

By U Mahesh

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The government primary school at SPR Hills, Vinayak Nagar in Borabanda is a picture of government apathy. Although the school has 166 students enrolled in classes 1 to 5, it functions in just two rooms where the children are forced to be seated on the floor and has only two teachers.

While students of classes 1 and 2 are simultaneously taught by a teacher in one room, class 3 and 4 students sit in another room taking lessons from the other teacher. Meanwhile, class 5 students are made to sit in the corridor and learn their lessons when either of the two teachers is free.

For lack of sufficient space, during the midday meal, the students are served food in batches. The school, which was started in 2012 with just two students, now has 166 students. Interestingly, when the number of children in other government schools across the State has been decreasing by the year, the enrolment in this particular school has been on the rise.

Parents of the school students residing in the neighbourhood of the school speaking to Express said they raised these issues with the Department of School Education several times and demanded the construction of a new building for the school but all their pleas fell on deaf ears.

When contacted, Asst Engineer with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mohammed Abdullah, said the government has allocated `17 lakhs for construction of two floors for a new school building and the tender process has also started. When contacted, the District Education Officer, B Venkata Narsamma reiterated the fact. However, the school staff said that this has been the standard response of the Department of School Education for long.

One of the teachers said: “The two rooms in the school are unsafe. The roof is not strong and in the rainy season, it becomes difficult to conduct classes as rainwater leaks from the roof. We requested the Department of School Education many times to construct the new building but they have been repeatedly claiming that the tender process is going on.”