Leaking governance: School roofs in Pernem leaking for years, many schools abandoned with no students

PERNEM: The State’s backward taluka of Pernem may boast of having the maximum number of Government Primary Schools (GPSs) to have a pre-primary section; however the apathy on the part of the government has left several schools in deplorable condition which require urgent repairs and maintenance.

The Government Primary School in Hankhane is facing a major problem as its roof has been leaking for years during monsoon due to the lack of maintenance on the part of the government. For several years, parents have been demanding that the building be repaired and upgraded but in vain.

“The Government Primary School in Hankhane has a tiled roof which is in a deplorable condition and leaks during monsoon. The PWD, which was supposed to take up repair work, has failed to do so,” Mahadev Chari, a parent, complained.

Meanwhile, the Omni present  Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) has taken up the repair of four government primary schools in Chonsai-Parsem, Sawantwada-Mandrem, Tiwade-Dhargal and Torsem-Patradevi.

One wonders why the Panchayat and the Education department can’t fix these with local contractors but that’s another story.

In the past two to three years, renovation work, especially replacement of tiled roofs with sheets, has been taken up in a few schools, which has solved the annual leakage problem during monsoon to some extent.

The Pernem ADEI however seems to suggest “all is well”. When contacted, Pernem ADEI Uma Bagkar said, “There are no buildings which are in bad shape. Wherever the repair work was required, the department has already processed the file and the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) is currently undertaking minor works in four schools, but the roofs of none of these schools are leaking.”

Besides facing infrastructure issues, the government primary schools are also struggling to cope up with the enrolment which has dropped considerably.

A number of schools have been shut or left abandoned due to zero enrolment. Two government primary schools one each in Khutwal and Allorna were shut down a few years ago due to lack of enrolment while zero enrolment forced a government primary school (Kannada medium) at Arambol to shut in the last academic year.