The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Some schools act fast in Coimbatore

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 19, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Some schools act fast in Coimbatore

By Our Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE, JULY 18. A few schools voluntarily removed thatched structures put up on their premises, even as officials said that they were waiting for instructions on dealing with unsafe structures in schools here today.

Pressure from parents, who expressed concern over the existence of the structures, and apprehension regarding stern measures by the authorities, seemed to have hastened the removal and disposal of inflammable material used either as roofing material or as sunshades.

One reason for this seemed to be the expectation of most parents that their children should study in institutions that had adequate and safe infrastructure. In some places, the parents-teachers associations are very active, and have been helping to improve buildings and facilities.

Official sources in the Education Department said that all Government, aided, municipal and corporation schools in Coimbatore had regular buildings. There were 189 such schools in the district, and all of them had asbestos, tiled or reinforced cement concrete roofs. While some schools had only five or six classrooms, there were others with 12 classrooms.

However, there were 14 matriculation schools that were partially thatched, and the officials said that they were awaiting directions from the authorities in Chennai, on how to proceed against such schools. Since the schools were already functioning, there was the issue of dealing with the consequences of closing them down without letting the education of the children suffer.

The municipal corporation officials of Coimbatore inspected the schools coming under their jurisdiction to check whether the school buildings were safe for students.

With the heightened awareness regarding the safety of schools, the Fire and Rescue Services Department has geared up to meet the situation. Official sources in the department said that a meeting of divisional fire officers was likely to be convened at the office of the Deputy Director of Fire Services, to discuss the issue on Monday.

The secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Voice, N. Logu, said that the problem of unsafe structures in matriculation schools could be effectively solved if the State Government acted on the recommendations of the Chittibabu Committee that had gone into the requirements of the schools regarding facilities and infrastructure.

He said that there were cases of unrecognised schools that conducted classes in structures constructed out of hollow blocks, cement sheets and thatched roofs, causing much hardship to the students.

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