BENGALURU: The contrast could not be starker. The political power centre and tech capital of the country Bengaluru is home to a government school that runs without electricity for the last seven years.
Students attend classes in the open and run into classrooms when it rains. As it is dark inside, the lone teacher for the school lights a candle and continues with classes.
The Government Tamil Higher Primary School, which was started in 1930, is situated on Commissariat Road in Ashok Nagar that is just 4 km from Vidhana Soudha. Ten students from classes 1 to 5 attend the school, while only one teacher is assigned to them. The power connection to the school was cut seven years ago, as it could not afford to pay the electricity bills, said sources from the Department of Public Instruction.
Neither the Education Department nor the elected representative has taken interest in reviving the school, said sources from the Department. “The number of students too has been going down over the years. Moreover, the school is situated in a prime commercial area, close to Garuda Mall. Vested interests want it shut so that they can use this piece of land for commercial activities,’’ they added.
Official sources confirmed that there is indeed a proposal to demolish the building. That is also one of the reasons why there is no interest in resuming power supply to the school, they said.
‘Will instruct BEOs to visit school’
Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh told TNIE that he will instruct the concerned block education officers to visit the school and get the power supply resumed. Well-known historian Suresh Moona said that a structure gets the heritage tag when it is over 100 years old. But depending on the architecture, which is colonial in this case, even those buildings that are 75 years or older should get the tag. “They represent the spirit of old Bengaluru. Recently, the 120-year-old Fort High School was preserved using the latest technology. We can restore buildings without losing their antiquity. But for that one needs an inclination to preserve the heritage of the city,” he commented.