KAKINADA: THE Zilla Parishad High School at Nagulapalli in U Kothapalli mandal resembles the Santiniketan—albeit for a different reason.
The school authorities did not take a cue from Visva-Bharati where classes are held in the lap of nature. In Kothapalli, students are made to attend classes under the shade of trees as the school building is in a precariously dilapidated state. The ‘classes’ change position even as the sun shifts westward.
“The school premises has large trees and shrubs. As the sun changes direction, so does the shade and we follow it,’’ a teacher said. Holidays are declared on rainy days.
The school has 204 English medium students and 120 others studying in Telugu. The building that is supposed to host the English medium classes is in a precarious state but the one for Telugu medium students is in good condition.
The school not selected for revamp under Nadu-Nedu
Established in 1978, the English medium building has eight classrooms on the ground floor and three on the first. As it started to crumble three years ago, the Zilla Parishad engineering officials recommended to demolish it.
Classes, however, went on for another two years and during the last rainy season, part of the ceiling started to peel off. The precarious condition of the slabs prompted the teachers to shift the classes outdoors.
Interestingly, the school has not been selected under the Nadu-Nedu programme under which infrastructure of the existing old schools is improved.
“From next year, anganwadi schools will be merged into English medium schools with a strength of 110 students,” Headmaster Yerubandi Srinivas Rao said, adding that district education department officials had been informed of the school’s condition.
East Godavari District Education Officer S Abraham said proposals for constructing a new building have been forwarded to the higher authorities 10 days ago.
School not selected for Nadu-Nedu
While the school has not been selected for Nadu-Nedu, under which infrastructure of old schools is improved, EG DEO said proposals for a new building were sent 10 days ago