Tura, May 28: Nestled in a remote corner of East Garo Hills (EGH), Dambo Reserve Upgraded SSA UP School was recently in the news after the pathetic condition of the school was commented on by Tura MP Saleng Sangma.
Saleng expressed sadness at what he saw through the videos that have gone viral and promised help. Following the MP’s statement, this scribe paid a visit to the school on Wednesday afternoon to see first-hand the situation faced by teachers and students as they grapple with education in an unforgiving landscape.
Dambo Reserve is about 6 km from the village of Rongjeng in EGH, on the Mangsang–Adokgre road. The school itself is another km from the main road. The school premises houses a Government LP School, a SSA UP School as well as a private secondary section that was built with the help of good Samaritans who saw potential in the teaching of those that imparted education.
The UP section, which is the main issue being faced by the school has 3 rooms Classes VI – VIII. There are 4 teachers catering to 56 students. The number, said locals, could have exponentially increased if proper infrastructure was set up for them.
Additionally, the UP section has a kitchen, which has been turned into an office room for teachers. Taking pity at the situation, residents of the village helped set up another room that now acts as a kitchen, while the kitchen itself serves as the staff room.
Kitchen cum Teacher’s office: This is the first room that was visited and as can be seen from the videos available, the entire structure is in shambles. A small opening on the roof (possibly for ventilation) that has not been closed allows rain water into the room. Plaster from the side walls were peeling off as was the plaster from the roof. The entire structure saw water seep through the minute cracks that have formed on the roof. There were 4-5 desks arranged within the room with the headmaster’s desk at one end – with a desktop.
“Clumps of plaster keep peeling off and falling on us. The bigger problem is that we have to store text and exercise books that we have to keep moving as the water keeps seeping through the roof. The entire room becomes soggy due to the rains and we have literally no option than to ensure the safety of the books that are kept,” informed headmaster, Sengphan K Marak.
According to the teachers, the school began in 2007 with the building for the UP section being completed between 2013-14. The problems for the school began about 5 years ago when the structure began to deteriorate.
Room 1 – Class VI: The best of the lot (which is not saying much) showed green algae on the walls and water seepage taking place. Water droplets could be seen just after a slight shower that took place yesterday. Incidentally, it has rained today, May 28 as well.
Plaster could be seen peeling off the walls and the roof with many sections still wet from the water seepage. Most students were outside trying to contemplate how their education could be carried forward.
Room 2 – Class VII: The condition of the room was similar to the first one though it was in a greater extent of dilapidation. Here too water was seen on the floor with walls and the roof again showing plaster peeling off.
Room 3 – Class VIII: The worst of the lot with many sections of the room actually being dangerous for occupation. This room had it all – green algae on the walls, plaster peels many feet wide, water seepage through the roof as well as cracks on the support beams that allowed water to enter through the roof and into the class. Most students were outside due to the class literally being unusable.
“We have a situation where each one of us wants to impart the best education to the children. However we dread the rains. What is even more interesting is that the day it rains, the classes can still be used as impact of the water seepage is not immediate. However the next day becomes a nightmare as there will be pools of water in all classes and the teachers’ room as well,” said Sengphan.
The story till now is that the school authorities have written multiple times with complaints seeking major repairs on the school to allow it to function normally. However till the time of writing, no one has come forward to even look at the state of the school.
“When the weather allows, most of us prefer to teach in the playground adjoining the school as any accident can happen due to the pathetic condition of the school rooms. Every year we have been complaining through the UDISE application seeking repairs. We have also informed the local MLA, the BDO, the DC and the Education department but have not received any replies from any of them. The situation, many a time, becomes untenable for us as well as our students. We just hope someone takes the initiative and helps before something major happens,” felt the headmaster.
Additionally, the school has three different toilets constructed under various schemes. At least two of them, one being completed just 3 months prior, are already in a state of dilapidation. A door to one of the toilets came unhinged just a few weeks ago, showing the poor construction quality.
Another logic defying structure that has been set up is an overhead water tank that is almost 12-13 feet from the ground. The reason it is logic defying is that it has no pipe connection and only a storage tank which cannot be reached as there is no ladder to allow anyone to go up to clean or check.
