THANJAVUR: The mercury is on the rise but students of Classes 6-8 at the government higher secondary school in Manakkadu have few options but to brave the sun and attend classes in the open for the past three years. Come rain, it would be a holiday for them.
This sorry state of affairs has been brought about by a lack of classrooms following the institution's upgradation, school management committee (SMC) members point out. Following the school in Sethubavachathiram panchayat union of the district being upgraded from a high school in 2017, a total of 301 boys and girls are pursuing Classes 6-12 in the institution. Increased admissions and the abandonment of a dilapidated building that once housed three classrooms, however, have led to a space crunch.
As a result, students in Classes 6-8 are being taught in the open. While only those in Classes 9-12 are accommodated in the existing classrooms, two of the rooms report leakage during the rainy season, SMC members said. Veerakkudi Raja, an SMC member, said that most students in the school are from a modest background and cannot travel long for studies.
"The school caters to students from the panchayats of Manakkadu, Rettavayal and Mangalanadu," he added. While pointing to how students of Classes 10 and 12 achieved a 100% pass percentage in last year’s board examination, he, however, said there were no labs for the higher secondary classes. When it rains, classes for those in Classes 6-8 had to be suspended, he added.
"We hence want new classrooms for the school at the earliest," Raja said. When contacted, M Sivakumar, the chief educational officer of Thanjavur district, told TNIE that a proposal to build new classrooms for the school has already been sent to the government.