Students in Kashmir NEET star Abdul Basit’s village attend classes in a tin shed, awaiting construction of the school
With the village in the spotlight due to Basit’s achievement, the students hope that the authorities will take swift steps to build a school building.
Srinagar: Children dressed in blue checked uniforms play outside a roadside tin shed in Chewa Kalan village of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.
These are the students of the lower and upper primary schools of the village, the hometown of Jammu and Kashmir’s NEET star Abdul Basit, and the Tin Shed is where their classes are held. There is also a kitchen in the barn where the students’ midday meals are prepared.
Inside the barn, classrooms are made with thigh-high tin plates, and their walls are littered with whiteboards, charts, and various maps. The lessons of teachers from different classes overlap.
Because of the metal plates, students and teachers sweat profusely in the summer and shiver in the winter.
On some days, when the heat becomes unbearable, teachers prefer to take lessons under the shade of a tree.
With the village in the spotlight due to Basit’s achievement, the students hope that the authorities will take swift steps to build a school building.
A student, Munazah Nisar, told PTI that the heat sometimes becomes so unbearable that children even find it difficult to talk.
“I hope the school building will be built soon,” she said.
Another student, Toiba Jan, said: “Our school has no building. There is no water supply or even a toilet. We study in a tin shed built by our teachers.”
It is thanks to the efforts of the teachers that the students are able to study, she said, adding: “We appeal to the government to build a school building for us as soon as possible.”
Mohammad Altaf, President of Civil Society of Jammu and Kashmir, said the condition of the school was brought to his attention by the locals when he visited the village to facilitate Basit.
“Two schools have been clubbed and housed in a tin shed. The teachers also suffer because other classes have to be stopped when a class is in progress,” Altaf said.
He appealed to the administration to address the issue as a matter of priority.
While Pulwama’s Chief Education Officer (CEO) Abdul Qayoom declined to comment on the matter, Deputy Commissioner Basharat Qayoom said he has requested a report from the CEO and will not comment until he receives it.
(Only the headline has been changed by India.com staff. Copy is from a syndicated feed)