Every morning, students of UP School in Sukunipadar under Muribahal block gather under a huge banyan tree on the school premises instead of going inside the school building. They spend the entire day there and if it rains, classes are suspended. It has been going on for over a month.
Teachers had to take the decision to hold classes under the tree after chunks of plaster started falling off the ceiling. There are 72 students in the school which has two classrooms.
Two more classrooms are under construction for the last four months with funds from Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
Sources said construction of one of the classrooms has been stopped as the fund sanctioned for the purpose has been exhausted and additional fund is yet to be sanctioned by SSA authorities.
The SSA had in 2012-13 sanctioned Rs 4 lakh for construction of the two classrooms of which, `3,07,000 was provided in the first phase. While the amount has been exhausted, the rest amount is yet to be released to the school.
Umesh Bag, headmaster of the school, said he has informed the authorities concerned about the school’s plight. “As building is unsafe, we are forced to take classes under the tree,” he said.
Muribahal BDO NC Jyoti Ranjan Naik said steps will be initiated to repair the existing classrooms and finish work on the new ones at the earliest.