Government schools in the mining areas of Honda and Pissurlem in the Sattari taluka are facing the risk of being closed down for good. Reasons are twofold. One is lack of students and another lack of transport.
When mining in Goa was flourishing, the schools also blossomed because companies used to provide transport to students coming from rural areas.
The government primary schools at Sonshi and Solye are the ones most affected. The school at Sonshi has only seven students enrolled for this academic year. Of the seven, four students are planning to move to a school in the town of Sankhali because of the free transport provided by a company from this village. This will leave only three students in the Sonshi school, which will invariably force the government to shut it down.
People from this village are now worried about their children. They say that it will be very difficult to get the school re-opened once the government decides to close it down.
The villagers claim that some parents who are somewhat better off financially can bear the additional cost of sending their wards to the city schools, but wonder how the poor ones will manage to educate their children from the meagre amount they earn through their hard work.
The closure of the mining activity has hit the villagers very badly. When mining was in full swing, the companies used to provide many facilities to the villagers, but now since the mining activity is curtailed the same companies have stopped their services and closed their business in these villages.
Villagers in Sonshi faced lot of hardships down the years. Muddy roads, rejected mining waste dumped on the either side of the school, muddy water pools around the premises, dust pollution caused by the mining trucks had created enough problems to the villagers. But the worst fear of the villagers now is the closure of the school due to the poor enrollment of students this academic year.
The students had to face many hardships, because the path to the school was closed due to the mining rejects. The students had even to cross the compound of a mining company to get to their school.
With the rain pouring in during the monsoons, the students and their teacher have to cross puddles of water to reach the school. Playing facilities are out of question because the school does not have a proper ground for the students to play on. The students face risk to their life because of the mining operations even during the other months of the year.
