JAGATSINGHPUR: Funds crunch poses serious threat to the lives of hundreds of school students in the district. Despite directions from the local administration, the schools continue to operate from irreparable buildings.The 35-year-old Ambiki High School in Erasama block faces ominous possibility of getting collapsed any time. But the classes are held in the dilapidated school building where 520 children study in Classes 8, 9 and 10. No steps have been taken to either repair the unsafe building or construct a new one.
Ambiki High School is not the lone case. According to reports, the district has 193 primary school buildings and 373 high school buildings that are unsafe. Following death of some students due to collapse of school buildings in the past, the Odisha Human Rights Commission had directed all district collectors to demolish unsafe school buildings and take up repair works of old buildings to ensure that children can study in a safe environment. Subsequently, district administration formed technical committees at block and district levels for identification of unsafe school buildings and repair the old ones in 2014.
As per the report submitted by the block level committee, 237 school buildings are irreparable and need to be demolished. As many as 136 buildings need to be repaired for which the expenditure was pegged at ` six crore. It was decided that ‘unsafe’ sign boards would be put up on unsafe buildings till those are demolished and students barred from entering the buildings.
Four years have passed since then, but no sign board has been put up on any of the unsafe school buildings while demolition of such buildings is yet to start. District Education Officer Prativa Manjari Das said despite directions from the local administration, no work has been done due to funds crunch.