The inauguration of a new kitchen and storeroom at Government Lower Primary School, Sasthamangalam, on Friday not only means enhanced safety in the classroom block, but also space to set up a library for the 45 children studying there.
Mayor V.K. Prasanth inaugurated the new kitchen and storeroom, built as part of the People’s Plan project for 2016-17 of the city Corporation. This brings to fruition a long-standing demand of students and the local people.
The school kitchen, till now, was functioning in an open hall on one side of which Class IV students studied. Classrooms for students of Classes II and III were adjacent. On the floor below were located classrooms for Class I and the pre-primary section. With meals being cooked using LPG cylinders, the risk to students’ lives was immense.
Today, the students, teachers, and parents can heave a sigh of relief. The new tiled kitchen and the storeroom are away from the classrooms, to one side of a hall that serves as a dining space for serving the breakfast and noon meals.
The ₹10-lakh kitchen project included laying of interlocking tiles from the main gate up to the stage and on the path from the classroom block to the second gate, and tiled floors for Class I and pre-primary classrooms.
School headmistress Santhakumari said the space freed up once the kitchen moved to its new location would be used to set up a library for the students.
But this will not solve the problem of lack of classroom for the Class IV students. School authorities say a solution would be to bring down the hall-like structure with a sheet roof that serves as the dining hall and erect a new structure with space for both a classroom and a dining hall. They hope this work will be taken up with ward councillor Bindu Sreekumar’s support next year.
The over-a-century-old school also needs urinals for boys’ toilets and a door.
Back wall damaged
A portion of the back wall of the school has crumbled, making it risky to allow students to venture there. The area between the retaining wall and the school compound is now overrun with plants and weeds. Once the wall is built and the plants and undergrowth cleared, a spacious play area can be created for the students.
The school has a smart classroom with computers, though only one of the two is functional.
Corporation Education standing committee chairperson S. Unnikrishnan presided over the function. Ms. Sreekumar was present.
