Government schools tell a sorry tale

HYDERABAD: Visit any government school in the city and chances are there you’ll be greeted with a plethora of problems. Most schools are run in dilapidated buildings, lack sufficient staff, have poor attendance of students and no proper facilities. In absence of proper maintenance, it is no wonder a school building collapsed in Barkas in the Old City on Wednesday, injuring five students.There are 802 government schools running their activities in the district and half of them have no proper buildings and facilities. As many as 615 schools are running in government buildings, 133 schools in rented buildings and 180 schools in rent-free buildings. Even as the academic year started two months back, district educational officials have not provided proper facilities to government schools in the twin cities. Many of them lack basic facilities such as drinking water and toilets and some do not even have benches, chairs or blackboards.In wake of the Barkas school collapse, Siva Kasaiah, Hyderabad District Educational Officer said they have directed the mandal educational officials to submit a comprehensive report on condition of the schools. “To provide better facilities to students, a few school buildings and additional rooms are being constructed in various localities in the twin cities,” he added.  A case in point is the GBHS Sulthanshahi School, located at Charminar, in which as many as 155 students are studying in Classes I to V. M Srinivas, headmaster of the school complained the roof of the building is in a bad condition and recently a small part of the roof collapsed due to heavy rains. Another school, GHS Nawab Saheb Kunta, Bahadurpura in which at least 150 students are studying does not have toilets. “It is a rented building and there is no electricity. Officials sent electricians today and the work of fixing sockets and fans is going on. The work will be completed in three days,” said O Yadgiri, headmaster. Mastan Rao, project director, Rajiv Vidya Mission said they had sanctioned funds for construction of 473 additional classrooms and 57 have been already completed.