New academic year begins in old and dilapidated classrooms in govt schools

Dharwad: Several government schools in Dharwad, Haveri and Gadag districts are in poor condition.
The department of public instruction had been zealous in decorating government schools on school reopening day on Monday to welcome students for the new academic year. The students had come with a dream if sitting in a renovated classroom only to be disillusioned.
Thanks to the government’s apathy in releasing funds for repairing / reconstructing classrooms that had dilapidated following heavy rains last year, the children are forced to sit in dangerous classrooms.
According to the officials, in Dharwad district 360 classrooms in 151 schools are in poor condition. Even though the department claims the classrooms are still safe for students, parents complained that large chunks of ceiling have collapsed, and huge cracks have appeared on the walls and roof tiles are leaking.
In the undivided Dharwad district, most school buildings have tiled roofs and due to rains and monkey menace, the tiles have broken. Classes can be engaged in the summer and winter, but during monsoon, rainwater enters the classrooms forcing teachers to shift students to other classes. While 49 classrooms in Dharwad taluk are waiting for immediate attention, Kalghatagi tops the list with over 100 classrooms in poor condition.
In Haveri district, there are 1,160 primary schools and 141 high schools having a total of 7,761 classrooms. While 1,097 classrooms need minor repairs, 1,468 classrooms need major repair works.
Some of the classrooms are so weak that they must be demolished and reconstructed, say officials.
Government schools in Gadag too are in dire straits. Schools that have completed 100 years have seen some development works in the last couple of years but still over 800 classrooms need major repairs.
The government should make it mandatory to spend a minimum of 25% of the MP/MLA/MLC Local Area Development fund on school development, said Umesh Baligar of Kalghatgi.