Angul: A primary school, about four km from here, has come to the verge of closure after its roof collapsed during Wednesday’s rain, a report said.
The collapse of Chheliapada primary school building’s roof has put the future of the students at stake. The students were seen studying under a tree Thursday.
The school with classes from I to V has a total strength of 45 students. They were being taught in four classrooms. Over the years, tiles came out of the roof of the building, at times, injuring the students, as the authorities neglected in upkeep of the structure. As a result, classes were held on the verandah.
This summer, the school authorities again started taking classes in two classrooms while the remaining students studied on the verandah.
However, the condition of the building worsened further with incessant rain over the last few days leading to complete collapse of its roof Wednesday. It became impossible for the authorities to conduct classes even on the verandah.
The incident triggered sharp resentment among guardians as many of them took back their wards home Thursday. The authorities had no other way than to teach the remaining students under a tree on the premises.
Chheliapada sarpanch Ashok Dehuri said when the government is spending crores of rupees for the spread of education it is regrettable that the school has come to the verge of closure due to lack of adequate infrastructure.
Headmistress (in-charge) Sandhyarani Mishra said she had written a letter to block education officer Manmohan Sahu February 27, 2015 highlighting the plight of the school.
Sahu and the junior engineer visited the school and took stock of the situation but no steps were taken to repair the building or construct a new one, Mishra alleged.
Sahu said he has sought a report from the cluster resources centre coordinator over the collapse of the school building. The school will function from a rental accommodation till repairing work gets completed, he added. PNN
