GHS Saidapora has 4 rooms for 11 classes

Sopore, Nov 4: Believe it or not but it is true, a government high school in the Sopore area has only four rooms for students of 11 classes, bellying the tall claims of the government to fill the infrastructural gaps in the schools.
Situated at a distance of around three kilometres from Sopore town, the Government High School (GHS) Saidapora in Dangerpora education zone has an enrollment of 125 students in 11 classes (from the first primary to class 10th).
However, the school has not seen any sign of development in terms of infrastructural gradation since its establishment in the area. The school has only classrooms for the students and one office room.
Notably, such schools exist on the ground at a time when the education department is claiming to continue the class work for the current session till December end, which however goes contrary to the facilities available in the schools.
Ideally, a high school needs accommodation of more than 11 rooms for students from kindergarten to class 10th, but this school has only three rooms for the accommodation of the students.
“One can imagine the situation of the schools where teachers have to accommodate 125 students of 11 classes in just three rooms,” a school teacher said, wishing not to be named.
During summers, the teachers manage to take the classes of the students in the open while “searching for shadows to adjust the open air classes.”
“But when it rains, the students of one class are crammed with other classes or sent home. This time it becomes very difficult to adjust the students in school amid this cold weather,” the teacher said.
Government school Saidapora is not the only school functioning in pathetic condition but there are dozens and hundreds of such schools which are left in shambles and have been the victim of official apathy.
“The government’s claim to fill the infrastructural gaps in schools remains confined to papers. The ground reality is completely different and exposes the real situation of the schools,” the teacher said.
Notably, the School Education Department (SED) in the recent past constituted several teams of officers and were tasked to conduct inspections of schools and provide feedback to the department about the availability of staff, infrastructure and learning levels of the students. The schools were supposed to be given a rating based on these parameters as well.
“This is an eye wash. One can imagine what sort of rating this school will be given. The reality is that no visiting officer visits such schools which exposes the reality,” he said.
The teachers and the locals have approached the higher-ups with the demand to provide additional accommodation for the school but nothing has been done on the ground so far.
“Recently, the local Sarpanch highlighted the issue and decided that money will be pooled to construct a school building for the school. But that initiative is yet to materialize,” the teacher said.
As already reported, several national surveys have repeatedly revealed that a good percentage of schools in J&K accommodate students of many classes jointly which defeats the basic purpose of imparting education to the children.
Meanwhile, a top official while acknowledging the lack of adequate accommodation in the school said the department has proposed a two-storey building for the institution.
“The department is working on the issue and the school will get a new building very soon which will overcome the problem of accommodation crunch,” the official said.