Raj govt tells teachers to report visible school building defects

Jaipur: Govt school teachers and principals have been directed to report visible defects in school buildings to district authorities before summer vacations so repairs can be completed during the holiday period ahead of the monsoon.

Officials said that the teachers’ role will be strictly limited to identifying potential hazards promptly and immediately notifying the education dept.

The move follows last year’s Jhalawar district school building collapse that killed seven children, in a school not classified as dilapidated. Last year, a child also lost his life after a school gate collapsed in Jaisalmer. The dept has instructed officials to ensure thorough inspections of all schools.

Teachers and principals will not be responsible for any technical reports, but they will have to inform education dept officials about the structural faults: any cracks in the walls, signs of roof leakage, peeling plaster, exposed iron reinforcement bars, leaning walls or unstable overhangs.

“Directives have been issued requiring all teachers and principals to conduct regular visual inspections of their respective school buildings. This implies that while they are not expected to perform technical assessments, they must maintain a vigilant watch over the condition of the building daily; such issues are not to be ignored,” said a senior official from education dept.

Officials also said that teachers have once again been instructed that if any classroom or building is deemed unsafe, students must be prevented from occupying that space and should instead be relocated to another secure room.

In March, the central govt approved Rs 300 crore for the reconstruction of dilapidated school buildings across Rajasthan. The funding, sanctioned by the Ministry of Education, aims to provide safer, more modern learning environments for students in govt schools.

Earlier, the state govt announced a five-year action plan worth over Rs 12,000 crore to renovate and upgrade more than 1.23 lakh dilapidated school buildings across the state. The initiative includes construction of new school buildings, major repairs and improved sanitation facilities.