A government higher primary school, which is all set to enter its centenary year in 2019, is staring at the threat of being demolished to make way for two community halls, if the plan of the Department of Social Welfare works out.
The school in Siddapura, which was established in 1919, has 60 students studying from classes one to seven. It was shifted to another location in the same area in 1993 on land owned by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which is where the existing school building was established.
Although the school authorities have not been formally asked to vacate the place, a copy of the proceedings of a meeting under the Social Welfare Department states that the department is planning to construct a community hall and call it ‘Ambedkar Bhavan’, and another hall to be called ‘Prof B. Krishnappa Memorial Hall.’
Chickpet MLA R.V. Devraj, who reportedly approved the idea, said the decision to construct the community hall was taken as there were very few students in the school. He said the State government had sanctioned ₹10 crore for the new construction and added that he would urge the government to build one floor in it that could function as the school.
But the move to demolish the Government Higher Primary School, Siddapura has angered parents, local residents as well as the teachers, who feel that there is a need for the Department of Primary and Secondary Education to save the school.
School Development and Monitoring Committee member R. Murugan, whose son studies in the same school, said several students would be put to hardship and may perhaps be forced to drop out as there are no other government schools in the neighbourhood.
The school authorities are yet to deliberate on where the students will be relocated if the school is demolished. A representative of Need Base India, a non-governmental organisation, has volunteered to provide food, hostel facility and other arrangements to ensure that the 50 children are able to stay in the school premises. “The State government says that they will not close down any government school. This move shows the government’s hypocrisy,” he said.
Commissioner for Public Instruction P.C. Jaffer said that they would take it up with Social Welfare Department to ensure that the school would continue to function.
