Students of a government-aided middle school near Srivaikundam, who were taught at a temple nearby for about two months as the school building was in tatters, have been forced to move back to the school as the temple is undergoing renovation.
Since March, students of Hindu Jeyalakshmi Middle School at Kilakulam village were taught at Sri Venkatesa Perumal Temple, a little further along the road.
At the time, three girl students, who had recently hit puberty, were not allowed into the temple as per religious customs and had to stay back at the school. Some of their parents took the girls back home. The students also had to return to the school during lunch as eggs were served as part of the meal. The temple is now gearing up for its annual ‘kodai’ festival, and the students had to move back to the school on Friday.
One of the classrooms is relatively better structurally, while four others at the school, which was constructed in the late 1940s, are in various stages of dilapidation. One of the classrooms, with missing roof tiles and cracked walls, remains fully cordoned off.
Since 2014, the school has not had a managing committee due to a fallout among village leaders and is given subsidy through direct payment. Currently, five teachers are available for about 80 students from Classes 1 to 8.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, the Srivaikundam Tahsildar had visited the school as it was to be turned into a polling booth. Teachers at the school say that he had given oral instructions not to use one of the classrooms as it was not structurally sound. The election was then held after minimal repair.
Meanwhile, officials of the Department of School Education are in a quandary as funds cannot be allocated directly by the government for rebuilding the aided school. Lawmakers’ local area development funds could not be used either, said an official.
They are now considering the possibility of merging the school with another school located within three kilometres. However, the official expressed apprehension about having children, especially girls, commute far away from the village.
In 2012, right around the time when the Nirbhaya case was making national headlines, a 13-year-old girl from the village was murdered following an attempt to rape. The incident took place during her daily commute to a private school in Nazareth by train.
Another option was to get funds from non-governmental organisations to rebuild the school, said the official.