Dungarpur (Rajasthan): As India shifts towards high-tech digital education from conventional education, there is a government school in a distant village in Rajasthan where access to basic amenities is still a luxury. The school, established in 1999 under the jurisdiction of the Bichiwada Panchayat Samiti lacks a building and has no roof.
A kutcha house in the tribal dominated hilly Dakshinanchal area has been turned into a school, which is now home to 33 students and two teachers. For the past 25 years, no stone has been laid due to the slow pace of construction work and other ancillary issues.
Overcoming the heatwaves, students have been attending classes by hanging torn sacks over them to avoid the scorching heat and falling sick. Not just this school, several other government schools in this district lack basic facilities, picturing a devastating state of rural education in India.
Besides, shortage of rooms, an additional issue is the collapse of the banana roof, adding to increased woes for the teachers and students during winter, summer and the rainy season.
School head master Nathulal said that since 1999, this eight by 15 feet room has been functioning in this impoverished state. "A kitchen has been constructed inside the house where five kids are made to sit together and study. Sometimes, students study under the neem tree located right outside the school. We suffer especially during the rains," he added.
Due to the lack of a roof, water drips, forcing classes to be called off. "Dungarpur MLA Ganesh Ghoghra had sanctioned Rs 25 lakh for the construction of the building in 2022 but in vain as nothing has been done in this regard," Nathulal added.
Construction work for a new school building is underway with its roof in place, but flooring and plastering work is still pending, a source said. Bichhiwada Deputy Head Lalshankar Pandwala said that the school building will be ready in the next 15 days.
As per sources, officials had conducted recces on lands thrice but issues of disputes obstructed the development. Pandwala alleged that they had often visited lands to build a permanent school building but on every occasion, some villager would start an argument claiming it to be his land.
People even stood together to protest if the foundation was laid down. "This is why we could never build the school building. Now that the land has been secured, the building work has finally started," Pandwala added.
It is a painful plight for students and teachers to walk through the 300-meter long, unpaved, rocky and thorny road that leads to the kutcha house of the school. "Thorny bushes have grown on both sides of the road making it difficult for us to commute during rainy days," a teacher said.
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