Chennai: Students and parents of a government school in Kanchipuram shut the school down on Tuesday while demanding that the dilapidated building be rebuilt as soon as possible.
The Walajabad Panchayat Union Government School in Ariyapakkam village had a nearly-collapsing 40-year-old wall. The parents of the children studying in the school had requested the authorities, including the district education officer to rebuild that block several times last year.
The rains had worsened the condition of the wall. “During last year’s monsoon, the classrooms in the block were flooded. They had to give leave to the children,” said a distressed parent. This year, to avoid such incidents, the parents decided to protest even as the rain began to pour in the city. The parents approached the Block Development Officer to demolish and renovate the building. They locked the school gates and protested until the BDO and the Kanchipuram district Education Department promised to solve the problem soon and pacified them.
Walajabad panchayat union BDO Siva Kalaiselvan acknowledged the matter and promised to fix it soon. “We have decided to fix it and the plan was drawn out today itself. The demolition will begin this Saturday. Rs 12.7 lakh has been allotted from the Panchayat union fund for it,” he said. However, there are three classrooms in the block and students from the middle school study there. “There will not be any disturbance to them,” assures the BDO.
