Wild growth, stagnating water: Mohali smart schools in bad shape

Some institutes trying to get villages to help clear overgrowth, district education officer says labour not available during Covid, but cleaning work will be carried out soon

Overgrown weeds and shrubs and a haven for drug addicts – a number of primary and middle government schools converted a few months back to smart schools by the Punjab government are in bad shape due to neglect as they remain closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With no gardeners visiting, many buildings are covered by wild growth. Flies are breeding in some places where water has collected after rain.

A visit to Majri block of Mohali district revealed that the gate of a school had been left open. Addicts gathered there in the evening to take drugs, locals complained.

Some of the teachers HT contacted said they had contributed to making the schools smart and were trying to get maintenance work done.

Surinder Kaur, who is in charge of the Government Smart Middle School at Kasauli village in Majri block, said: “We have requested the village to get it cleaned under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). We don’t have any gardener or peon in the school. We have spent ₹45,000 to make it a smart school and have received only ₹15,000 from the education department. Most of the money has been contributed by the teachers and panchayat.”

Commenting on the matter, district education officer (secondary), Himmat Singh said, “due to Covid-19, we are not getting the labour to clean the grass and carry out maintenance work in the school. The staff sometimes visits, but we will get it cleaned soon.

“Most of the government schools are in a state of neglect as staff members don’t come in... even during the unlock period,” said former zila parishad member and resident of Majrian village, Chaudhary Sham Lal.

“The school has become the den for the drug addicts, especially in the evening as main gates have not been locked,” he added.