Four students hurt after ceiling plaster falls at Banswara school

Jaipur: Four girls were injured after a portion of the ceiling plaster fell on students at a govt school in Banswara, despite a similar incident last year.

The incident occurred Monday at the Govt Senior Secondary School in Amarthun village in Banswara. The injured students were taken to a nearby hospital and later discharged the same day, the school authorities said.

School staff said that two classes took place in one classroom to manage the student strength, along with three additional tin sheds, which were constructed through the collective effort of teachers and locals.

According to the school staff, the school has a total of 13 rooms, of which five rooms are closed due to being dilapidated. The school, with a total strength of 722 students, operates in just eight rooms.

“We have written to the district education officials, directorate and even on the chief minister’s portal, apprising them about the condition of the school, but no action was taken. Now that this mishap has happened, all officials are here at the village to conduct inspections. Last year too, plaster from the ceiling fell, and authorities were informed, but no action was taken,” said an official from the school, on condition of anonymity.

The education department has now allowed the school to operate in two shifts.

Officials from the education department said that the school was repaired around four years ago and the room where the plaster fell from the ceiling was not categorised as dilapidated.

Pawan Kumar Rawal, district education officer, Banswara, who reached the spot Monday after the incident, said that a safety audit will be conducted for the school. “All students are safe, and we have issued orders for classes to be conducted in two shifts in the school, as the number of students is high. The school was repaired four years ago and passed the safety audit conducted last year, but we will once again check what caused this incident,” said Rawal.

This incident has once again raised questions about students’ safety in govt schools in Rajasthan. Last year, seven students died when a govt school’s classroom wall collapsed in Jhalawar district.

In Aug last year, the education department identified 3,768 school buildings as dilapidated, with 2,558 officially declared unsafe, as cited by Education minister Madan Dilawar in the assembly on Jan 30.
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