The Hindu : New Delhi News : Government schools yet to get modern facilities

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 11, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Government schools yet to get modern facilities

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, AUG. 10. While the education sector and welfare of students seem to be high on the priority list of the United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre, they do not occupy an important position in the Delhi Government's scheme of things. Despite having declared that it would banish the use of semi-pucca structures (SPS) in government schools and replace them with modern pre-fabricated porta cabins from the current academic session, there seems no change in the situation.

Controversy seems to dog the Directorate of Education as already the merger and delimitation of schools by it has created a chaotic situation. The MLAs are complaining against the "illogical'' mergers and have alleged that they have not been taken into confidence before undertaking such a sensitive exercise.

The UPA Government has imposed a 2 per cent education cess to raise money for this sector, indicating the importance it attaches to it. However, in the Delhi Government nothing has moved on ground. The commitment of the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, and the Education Minister, Arvinder Singh Lovely, to do away with SPS concept in schools has fallen flat on the face. However, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has already installed porta cabins in its primary schools beating the Delhi Government in the race.

The ambitious project to provide porta cabins using plastic creat technology, which are more comfortable and have a longer life than SPS, was to begin this session itself. Mr. Lovely had claimed a few months ago that everything was in place and porta cabins would be put in place by the beginning of July. But this has remained a distant dream for students of various schools who are still studying under pathetic conditions with some of the schools even holding classes out in the open.

The process for giving contract for installation of porta cabins has lacked transparency right from the beginning, it is being alleged. The long delays, file work and several meetings held in this regard indicate that all is not well.

"It is high time the Chief Minister intervened in the matter and settled things once for all. The porta cabin project should have taken off by now and at the present pace nothing will happen before next year,'' remarked a senior official.

Under the project, the Directorate of Education had identified around two dozen sites for installation of pre-fabricated porta cabins.

A total of around 250 rooms were to be created in the first phase to provide relief to thousands of students across the Capital.

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