The State government will take up repair and maintenance of schools in the flood-affected districts in a phased manner, Minister for Primary and Secondary Examination S. Suresh Kumar said on Wednesday.
“We have estimated the loss to be around ₹ 698 crore, which includes ₹ 164 crore for immediate repairs. The government has released ₹ 500 crore to the department to take up necessary repairs. All works will be completed in a time-bound manner,” the Minister said.
He was speaking to journalists at the government school in Adibatti village. Mr. Kumar visited schools in some flood-hit villages in the district on Wednesday. He spoke to officers, teachers and students and assured them of the government taking up repairs immediately. “I am in constant touch with district-level officers of the department. I recently held meetings with them via video conference. Senior officers will monitor works in each village,” he said. He said that the government was committed to rebuilding rural infrastructure that was damaged in the floods. “The first structures to be repaired will be schools, anganwadis and hospitals. The safety of children is of prime importance. We will shift flood-prone villages if needed,” he said.
He said that the seventh standard examination was made a public examination to help students overcome the fear of examinations. Once they pass a public examination in the seventh standard, they will face the SSLC examination fearlessly. “We are not holding the seventh standard examination to fail students but to prepare them for the SSLC examination. We want to tell them that the examination hall is not a battle ground but a playground,’’ he said.
To a question, he said that the government will sympathetically consider the demand of wage revision of guest lecturers in schools and pre university colleges.
