Outside the toilet at the Corporation Elementary School in Karumbukkadai, students wait in queue. For, there are only two toilets – one for boys and girls. There is another toilet for teachers. The students use this one too as there is insufficient number of toilets, say sources. In classrooms too there is shortage of space. But, the teachers are able to manage for now because students turn up in shifts, what with the COVID-19 safety protocol in place, the sources say. The inadequate infrastructure became more apparent after a spike in number of students the school admitted.
In the last academic year, there were 128 students. At the beginning of this academic year, around 200 students joined the school, taking the total strength to 315, says Sabina Shamsudeen, a Karumbukkadai resident.
Abdul Hakim of Jamaat E Islami Hind says though the demand for more classrooms is justified, the Corporation should heed to the residents’ demand for upgrading the school and building a new one.
After class five, students from the area are forced to go to Town Hall, or Raja Street or Kuniamuthur to continue high school education. Girls, in particular, are completely dependent on the Corporation Girls’ Hr. Sec. School on Oppanakara Street. Many parents stop sending girl children to school after Class X. To stop the practice the Corporation should construct a higher secondary school at Pullukadu. And, if it were to offer English medium of education as well then the civic body will see a good response.
Teachers in the school say they represented the infrastructure demands to the Corporation authorities in July-August this year. A few officials visited the campus to study the availability of space for constructing new classrooms.
