Risking 600 lives, school continues in unsafe building for 4 years
The L-shaped two-storey building of the school, in the heart of Kotchandpur upazila town, appears to have been maintained well, with fairly new paintjob on the outside and lush green trees in the front.
But Education Engineering Department (EED) in Jhenidah declared this older building, built in 1960 on the northern corner of Kotchandpur Secondary Girls’ School, unsafe in 2015 for its deplorable condition.
Iron rods are exposed in almost all its twelve rooms as plasters keep falling off from the ceilings and cracks continue to be visible on walls of many of its rooms and the outer hallway.
Nearly 600 students of eighth, ninth and tenth grades still attend classes in the building risking their lives as the authorities, till date, were unable to arrange any substitute classrooms for them.
About 500 other students of the renowned school, established in 1953, attend their classes in a newer building on the southern side of the school compound, situated on 2.09 acres of land that was donated by local philanthropists.
Jannatul Ferdous, a ninth grader at the school, said attending classes in the north building is a nightmare as both students and teachers, 35 in total, cannot keep their eyes off the ceilings of the classrooms, worrying about possible fatalities due to falling plasters.
Ishaque Ali, the school’s headteacher, said following a visit by an assistant engineer of EED in Jhenidah, the north building of the school was declared risky and unfit for use by the department on February 3, 2015.
The building was damaged further in an earthquake in 2017 and the upazila administration in a letter urged the higher authorities to take necessary steps in this regard on November 13 the same year. With the higher authorities paying no heed to the matter, classes continued in the building.
On July 24, 2018, five of his students were admitted to a local hospital after they sustained injuries from falling plasters, the teacher said adding that he cannot stop worrying about the worst when classes are taken in the building.
Upazila Secondary Education Officer Ratan Mia said while awaiting response from the authorities, they were continuing their efforts in getting necessary funds for the repair of the building.
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