It is about 11.45 a.m., and the teacher can be heard shouting at the top of her voice. Over 50 children are seated on the floor, with hardly any room to even move their limbs. And all this is evident to the passer-by, as the school does not have a compound wall.
The close proximity of Government Adi Dravidar Welfare High School on East Coast Road, Palavakkam, to the main road, makes it nearly impossible for teachers to address the class, amidst the noise made by passing vehicles. The recent talk of widening of East Coast Road has students and parents even more worried.
The school lacks basic infrastructure such as sufficient classrooms, furniture and laboratories. It is over 15 years since the school was upgraded into a high school, but not a single additional classroom has come up to take care of the growing strength of students in classes VI to X, which has now reached 670. On Friday, the District Adi Dravidar Welfare Officer and the Chief Educational Officer taking care of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan projects visited the school and reportedly promised the school a new building at a site that the institution has identified nearby.
Of 287 government schools in Kancheepuram district, the ECR stretch alone has 20 government schools. With the increasing industrial growth here, many private players are either starting their branches in the integrated townships or starting new schools.
According to a senior official from the Kancheepuram Education Department, with the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan many of the schools here are going to get a facelift .
