Kids attend classes in risky school building

The dilapidated Panchpara Government Primary School in Priojpur where over 250 kids attend classes everyday risking their lives. PHOTO: STAR

Kids at a primary school are attending their classes amid fear as several cracks have developed in the building of the institution in Sikdermollik union of Sadar upazila.
At least 253 students and four teachers stay at Panchpara Government Primary School for hours, risking their lives.
During a recent visit, this correspondent found several cracks in the walls of the school house and teachers using a dilapidated room as library.
Apart from this, the school has been limping with manifold problems, said the teachers and students.
“The students do not want to attend classes due to the dampen walls”, said Razia Sultana, an assistant teacher.
Headmaster Sanjoy Kumar Molongi said all the classrooms are risky and unfit for taking classes as  plaster falls off their walls regularly.
“All the blackboards are damaged and the play ground often gets flooded  due to tidal surge and heavy downpour during monsoon”, he said.
Despite repeated pleas, the authorities turned a deaf ear to the matter, said the headmaster.
Habibur Rahman Sheikh, president of the school managing committee, said that they asked for a new building several times. Built in 1965, the school was nationalised in name only, he said.
District primary education officer Md Mofazzal Hossain said his office has already informed the higher authorities about the matter.
However, he could not say if or whether any step would be taken at all in the near future.