KARIMNAGAR: Students at the Karimnagar Regional Sports School have been leading a miserable life due to a lack of basic facilities. Several students of Class V and VI are forced to sleep on the hard and cold floor due to a lack of proper beds.
Some are a tad lucky to have mattresses they have brought from home. The mattresses provided by the government at the time of admission are out of shape with coir coming out of the ripped covers. There are not enough washrooms. The few that they have are without doors, say the students. Furniture is a luxury here.
On top of it, the playground at the school which is supposed to provide a place for students to train in various sporting activities apart from some academic classes is overgrown with bushes and shrubs, making it inaccessible for any activity. The Regional Sports School was started at Ambedkar stadium in 2006 before it was shifted to its own building near Lower Manair Dam on the outskirts of the city.
Presently, the school has about 186 students (92 boys and 95 girls in Classes from V to X). Vexed by the lack of facilities, a student got his admission transferred to the Hakimpet Sports School in Secunderabad.
Two days ago, students staged a protest over unhygienic food and the violation of daily menu rules by the contractor. Things improved after the visit of the Additional Collector. But any improvement in the facilities appears to be a far cry, a parent of one of the students said speaking to TNIE.
“I expected a lot from the Regional Sports School at Karimnagar. But, my hopes have been dashed as my son is facing a lot of problems due to lack of facilities,” rued Karunakar from Khammam. Their daily needs like toothpaste and soap are not being taken care of, the students alleged.
ONLY 3 COACHES
The school is facing an existential crisis as there are hardly any coaches to train the students. There are only three coaches for three of the 15 sporting branches. The swimming pool and the synthetic running track constructed at a cost of Rs 7 crore are yet to be opened for use by the students. The lone sweeper for both the hostels and the school premises finds her daily task an uphill one.
“Sweeping 30 hostel rooms and the school building is too much for me,” says the woman. District Youth and Sports Officer K Rajaveeru told TNIE that the issues would be taken to the notice of the authorities concerned.