257 PU college buildings in need of repair

Officials gather details after two students were killed in a classroom wall collapse is Yamkanmardi in July

A total of 257 government Pre-University college buildings in the State are in need of repair and makeover. The Department of Pre-University Education gathered these details after the classroom wall at the Government Higher Primary Girls’ School in Yamkanmardi near Chikkodi collapsed killing two students in July.

According to the information collected by the Deputy Director of Pre-University Education (DDPU), 21 per cent of the total 1,203 government PU colleges are in need of repairs. These colleges have 5,938 classrooms.

A senior official pointed out that the department is in the process of collating details of colleges that are dilapidated and need to be demolished.

“A large number of these buildings need repairs and whitewash. But, we want to identify buildings that are beyond repair and send a proposal to the government to demolish them and build new colleges,” an official said.

In cases where the college needs to be demolished, students are likely to be shifted to high schools which have extra classrooms.

The maximum number of colleges that need repairs are in Mandya (28) followed by Raichur (18) and Kalaburagi (17). The only district that does not have any college in need of repair is Chamarajanagar. Seven colleges in Bengaluru (Urban) need repairs or whitewash.

Need for more labs, toilets

During the survey, the department also found that there were 679 laboratories and 1,801 toilets in these 1,203 colleges. In many cases, the colleges did not have separate toilets for girls and boys. The department now plans to send a proposal to build an additional 1,500 laboratories and 4,000 toilets.

Officials gather details

after two students were killed in a classroom

wall collapse in Yamkanmardi in July