TURA: A lower primary school in Garo Hills has become an example of sheer negligence and apathy and speaks volumes about the state of education in Meghalaya.
Borobolang Government LP School in the border region of Purakhasia in West Garo Hills has completed 51 years without basic amenities like teachers and tables.
More than its leaking roof and broken windows, truant teachers have proved to be a big blow to the school. The headmaster and the assistant teacher, both of whom are from Tura, allegedly stay away from work for days.
“Both the teachers are irregular and hardly take classes since they remain absent for weeks and months altogether. Their presence is only during examinations,” the villagers of Borobolang and its adjoining areas alleged.
Primary schools are seen as the foundation of education all over the world with students having ample space to grow up, access to books and instruments and are guided by qualified teachers. But the school, which was established in 1965 after villagers got together and decided to spread education among their children, has done little to help the future generations.
Initially, it started as an informal school house where children could attend classes. From a trickle, the number of children soon swelled to several dozen. Twelve years later, in 1977, the government took over the village school and transformed it into Borobolang Government Lower Primary School.
But even after this, no aid came for setting up a permanent school building and classes continued in the old house. It was only in 1991 that the school was shifted to a newly constructed community hall under the guidance of the then school secretary Dingsan Sangma who constructed it from funds received from the MLA scheme.
Since there is no existence of a school building or furniture and other items, classes continue to be held with the bare infrastructure in the community hall till date.
The condition of the LP school shows why the number of SSLC pass outs is low in Meghalaya, particularly in Garo Hills, which has also recorded a rise in school dropouts. “This is the present scenario of our primary schools where our children go to study and these children are our future,” said the village elders.
Militancy and lack of infrastructure have always been the common alibi for irregular teacher attendance and poor functioning of schools. But concerned officials are failing to take action against erring teachers and the need of the hour is to empower village education committees so as to allow them to act firmly against such negligence.
