The government may have offered laptops to students in the State, but beneficiaries at a higher secondary school in Sanguem may find it difficult, if not dangerous, should they decide to connect their laptops in school.
This is because, the electrical wiring all over the school building is worn out and wires are seen hanging at various places. Students and their gadgets have been further exposed to the danger of switches that are either missing or broken.
The lone Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS) in Sanguem caters to the 335 students in four streams, but it lacks basic facilities to impart education at the school.
When the higher secondary was opened in Sanguem in 1993, the school was in search of students and enrolment had been restricted to a paltry 93 students.
Teachers attached to the GHSS then began a door-to-door campaign in the remote villages in search of SSC students, who could not afford to travel to distant places to pursue higher studies.
The efforts paid rich dividends and the GHSS began to receive an increasing number of students with each passing year. When the higher secondary was opened, the building was new and had sufficient number of classrooms located in two buildings to accommodate the growing number of students.
However, the GHSS was neglected over the years and students preferred to opt for better education institutions elsewhere in the State.
Given the decline in student strength, a portion of the school building was leased two years ago to house the office of the Assistant District Education Inspector at Sanguem.
A surge in the number of students at the GHSS during the current academic year has put school authorities in an unusual situation.
“With a record number of students having enrolled during the current academic year, over 70 students are being made to sit in one class. The number of benches available in classrooms is also not sufficient enough to accommodate the students,” admitted an official at the school.
“However, this problem can be solved to a great extent if the portion of the building leased to house the ADEI office is handed back to the school,” the official said.
The building which houses the higher secondary is also in a dilapidated condition. The wiring all around the building is worn out and wires are hanging at many places. The electrical switches are either broken or missing in many rooms and this could risk the lives of the students in the school, the official said.
The situation at the GHSS is also deplorable during the monsoon. The corridors and even the principal’s cabin are filled with rainwater and during a heavy shower, the staff and students find it difficult to enter the classrooms.
“Two years ago, a sum of Rs 30 lakh was reportedly spent towards maintenance work of the building, but the work undertaken was far from satisfactory as there has been little relief for the staff and students at the GHSS,” said the school official.
The teachers and other staff are also sore over the poor infrastructure at the school, making it difficult for them to impart education to the students, most of who hail from the lower strata of society.
