Irfan Tramboo
Budgam, July 15: A bare display of official apathy reflects at Government Primary School in Bemina area of Budgam district as a school is functioning in a single room where more than 70 students are huddled together to attend six classes.
The school does not have its own building and it operates from a rented place consisting of one single room in Hamdania Colony, Bemina falling in zone Soibugh. There are only three teachers who are trying to render their services under telling circumstances.
What is ironic is that the place where the school is functioning in one single room there are other rooms that are occupied by a family living there in the same house. The students and the family share various spaces with each other on daily basis.
What really takes one aback is that three teachers can be seen simultaneously teaching the students of various classes, making it difficult for the students to concentrate.
“This cannot be called as a school, where all the classes are subjected to stay in one room, how can a student concentrate on what is being taught to them and how can we as teachers stay focused,” a teacher of the school said.
The family living in the building, student and their teachers are left with no option, but to share toilets and other spaces, turning the environment of the school into something not-so-friendly. “These kids and their parents are all helpless; they cannot afford the luxury of having A-class facilities in their school, thus they carry on with whatever they have,” said another teacher.
Locals in the area said that those whose wards are enrolled in the school cannot afford to send their wards to private institutions and are relying on government schools solely. “If they could afford, they would have sent their kids to private schools, they are left with no options but to send their kids to such schools where even basic facilities are not available,” Bashir Ahmad, a local in the area said.
While the authorities are saying that they are looking for a suitable place for the school to be relocated, the officials have so far turned a blind eye towards the school since 2015. Zonal Education Officer, Zafar Ahmad, told Excelsior that the department is constructing a new building for the school and till then another room at the same place will be taken on rent.
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