NILGIRIS: The prolonged delay in the construction of classrooms forced students of the Periyasholai Panchayat Union Middle School to stage a protest along with their parents by holding placards on Monday. They urged the Nilgiris District Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Taneeru to intervene.
The students held aloft placards demanding protection to their lives as their classrooms may collapse at any time and reminded the district administration it is its duty to ensure student safety.
The school was constructed way back in 1951 and the building has become weak but renovation works were never taken up. During rainy seasons, water leaked into the classrooms, forcing the students to leave the classrooms or huddle on one side of the classroom where there is no leakage.
One of the parents said that out of eight classrooms, three classrooms were completely damaged and the remaining five classrooms were partially damaged.
Forty-one students, including 14 tribes, of poor economic backgrounds are studying in the school between classes 1 and 8.
"It is a difficult situation for all the students as the authorities continue to wait for the approval from the authorities concerned and indulge in blame games. The Block Development Officer (BDO) asked us to approach the O-Valley Panchayat as the school comes under the Panchayat.
Meanwhile, O-Valley Panchayat officials are asking us if the school comes under the BDO. Due to this blame-game, the construction of classrooms get delayed and students face trouble in learning the subjects in a peaceful environment," said another parent.
"We held the protest at the school along with the students on Monday to convey our plight to the district collector through the media since there is still confusion as to who will take over the construction of the classrooms. We will stage an indefinite strike in in front of the Gudalur Tahsildar office if we do not receive any proper response from the education department," said another parent.
Sources also said that the headmaster of the school has been paying Rs 2,000 to a sanitary worker from his own pocket every month as the education department or the Panchayat stopped providing wages to workers after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gudalur RDO Gunasekaran said that he is aware of the issue and the district collector has ordered the Assistant Director of Town Panchayat to carry out the work. The engineer will be visiting the school and finalising the estimate on Wednesday.