Several buildings housing government primary and high schools in Mysore district are in a dilapidated or damaged condition and they are in need of immediate repair or reconstruction.
The ‘weak’ school buildings have become a cause for concern for the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) here as the situation has worsened following heavy rain this year. Heads of schools in Mysore taluk have been directed not to hold classes in rooms that they feel are “unsafe” and make alternative arrangements within the available space at the school.
More in rural areas
The number of school buildings that are in need of immediate repair or reconstruction was higher in rural parts of Mysore taluk than in Mysore city. Some buildings were said to be ‘structurally weak’ and may have to be demolished to make way for new buildings. About 150 dilapidated or damaged school buildings had been identified in Mysore taluk. The taluk has 218 government primary schools and 33 high schools.
When contacted by The Hindu , Block Education Officer (Rural) R Ramaradhya said that dilapidated school buildings in the taluk had been identified and a report had been submitted to the office of the DDPI.
Engineers of the Public Works Department would assess the condition of the school buildings and recommend steps. The school development and monitoring committees (SDMCs) of the respective schools were empowered to execute works upon getting approval for repair or reconstruction, he explained.
In the educational block of Mysore North (comprising schools in northern part of Mysore city), there weren’t many government school buildings that were in a deplorable condition.
BEO (North) Kari Gowda told The Hindu that 17 school buildings had been identified for repair or reconstruction. The list of buildings had been prepared based on the feedback from the cluster resource persons and block resource persons in the block and the list had been sent for approval.
However, in Mysore South educational block (consisting of schools in southern areas of Mysore city), there was only one building that needed immediate attention, he said. This block was dominated by private schools and had 28 government primary schools and eight high schools.
“There is only one school in Kuduremala locality here that needs repair,” said BEO (South) Raghunandan.
