Welcome To A Government School Where Right To Education Is Far From Reality

BANGALORE: The joy of learning is killed right at the entrance to the Government Urdu Higher Primary School at Jigani. Kids balance their satchels as they gingerly tread over the shaky stone slab that barely covers an open drain. Two steps and there's the classroom - a dark, dingy place that can hardly accommodate 25 students, its dreariness enough to dry up all their impishness.
The room is partitioned by a wooden screen and has a small window for a ray of light to enter.As your eyes adjust to the darkness, you can spot six students and two teachers on one side and 10 students on the other.
There are four desks on one side of the classroom and the rest is filled with utensils used for mid-day meals, sacks and wooden planks. Is it a storeroom or classroom? With an asbestos sheet for a roof, life becomes unbearable as temperature soars. ``We feel like running away during summer,'' says Tarannum Ara, a teacher.
This is supposed to be a building housing seven classes -from 1 to 7. Luckily, there are only 30 students, half of them absent. The building, constructed in 1937, looks as if it might crumble anytime. ``It has no electricity connection, or water and toilet facilities. After the mid-day meal, we go to the nearby tank to clean our plates. Also, we cannot take lessons as it disturbs the other class,'' Tarannum explains.
A few kilometres away, a Government Higher Primary School is in equally pathetic condition. The front portion of the building is almost crumbling. Steps are worn out and the door of the room is supported by a stone.
These are just a few examples of government schools on the outskirts of Bangalore, but the private `English' medium schools are no better. Nobel English High School, which follows CBSE curriculum till Class 7 and state syllabus for high school, has a school van, uniform complete with tie and shoes, but children sit in a place resembling a huge godown! Though headmistress Soujanya V did say this is a temporary arrangement and the children would be shifted later to a permanent building just 1 km away. ``We do not have fans because of continuous load-shedding. Sheet roofs are a concern to parents but we have assured them that there is no leakage during monsoon,'' she added.
SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS
Ironically, some schools have all the facilities but no teachers. For example, at the Government Model Primary School in Jigani, the three computers are cobwebbed and disconnected, while brand new ones are lying unused. ``There are no computer science teachers for our students. Our subject teachers, too, haven't learnt computers,'' said headmistress Yashodhamma.
VEGETABLES DISAPPEAR
Government Urdu Higher Primary School faces a unique problem __ stealing of vegetables. ``We have a kitchen garden where the greens grown are used for cooking. However, many a time, they are stolen, forcing us to go to the market,'' said Shamsunissa, headmistress.
It's not only vegetables, even the dish antenna was taken away. ``We have 12 cassettes on various subjects, including environment and health. A television set has been provided to screen them, but people steal the antenna.'' With private schools being set up in the vicinity, attracting children to government schools is a herculean task. ``This year, admissions dropped as two private school with transportation facilities have been set up,'' she said.
In these areas, schoolchildren have to eat what is prepared by the school cook, unlike in Bangalore and other parts of the state, where Iskcon supplies variety, nutritious food.