The Balasore administration seems to have learnt no lessons from the Nayagarh anganwadi incident that claimed seven lives on July 9.
Notwithstanding the public outcry over unsafe school and anganwadi buildings across the State, students continue to study in such unsafe structures.
Students of Bhajahari Vidyapeeth at Manatri village in Soro area here had a close shave on Friday after a portion of the thatched roof over the verandah caved in during the prayer class.
The school building is dilapidated, but with no other option school authorities continue to hold classes there. As many as 226 students study in Class-VII, IX and X.
The school was established in 1988. It has eight teachers and four non-teaching staff, but lacks infrastructure. The school this year recorded 90 per cent result in the HSC examination.
Headmaster Surendra Behera said the school building is a mud structure with a thatched roof built 24 years back.
“The building might collapse any time. Although we have approached the authorities concerned several times, none has paid heed till date,” he said.
Villagers said they too had appealed to the local MLA, MP and the Education Minister to sanction funds for construction of a new building.
The school was, in fact, damaged during the 1999 super cyclone. “With the help of villagers though we repaired the structure, it again got damaged in 2010 flood,” the headmaster said.
Soro BDO Kalyani Pattnaik said the school would function from the nearby nodal UP school till it gets its own building.