THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:With the schools in the state reopening on Wednesday after Onam holidays, the government has ordered all District Education Officers (DEOs) to ensure the schools ravaged by floods have obtained fitness certificates.
As per the statistics available with the education department, Alappuzha district has the most number of damaged schools (302), followed by Ernakulam district (128). The schools in Veliyanda, Mankombu, Thalavadi in Alappuzha district are still water-logged. In Pathanamthitta district, 78 schools have been damaged while Thrissur district has 72 schools in dilapidated condition. A total of 51 schools were damaged in Malappuram district while nine schools were damaged in Kottayam district and 11 in Idukki.
According to General Education Secretary A Shahjahan, engineers have already been instructed to make necessary maintenance work on a war-footing before the school re-opening.
“Although the DEO and AEOs concerned have been directed to ensure schools obtain fitness certificates, some schools may not be ready before the classes begin. Many of the schools in Alappuzha districts are still water-logged. The NSS, NCC and SSA volunteers are cleaning the schools to make them ready for functioning before Wednesday. Similarly, cracks formed on the walls are being inspected by the engineers,” Shahjahan told Express.
Meanwhile, the office-bearers of Kerala School Teachers Association (KSTA) said temporary arrangements have been made to shift students from that have been marked ‘unfit’. “Following the floods, many schools have been marked unfit. Some buildings have developed cracks. Such buildings need to be repaired immediately. So the students of such schools have to be shifted to private halls for the time being. The remaining schools are equipped enough to conduct classes as we were also in the cleaning works”, said KSTA General Secretary K C Harikrishnan.
CBSE schools to contribute to CMDRF
Kochi: The Kerala CBSE School Managements’ Association has decided to contribute to the CMDRF. Though most of the schools have already participated in the relief activities, the association has decided to contribute a minimum of `100 per student from 1,400 schools, according to association president T P M Ibrahim Khan and general secretary Indira Rajan. The school managements and teachers will also contribute to the relief fund.