The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Separate girls school still remains a dream for Nimmiampattu villagers

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Separate girls school still remains a dream for Nimmiampattu villagers

Staff Reporter

The panchayat has even transferred the required land for the school

— Photo D. Gopalakrishnan

Gathering dust: The site selected to construct a girls higher secondary school at Nimmiampattu.

ALANGAYAM: Even after five years one-and-half acre of land was transferred by the Nimmiampattu panchayat in Alangayam Union to the District Education Department, no steps have been taken to construct a separate girls higher secondary school in the village.

Panchayat chairperson Kosalai Janbuvanian to The Hindu that the panchayat had even paid the prescribed deposit amount.

The school would stand to benefit girls from four villages, including Nimmiampattu, Mel Nimmiampattu, Soonambupalam and Kuvalkuttai.

At present there was a co-education panchayat higher secondary school in Nimmiampattu. The school had 1,400 students on rolls. As the school strength was full, it was not in a position to admit more students who preferred to pursue high and higher secondary education.

Shortage of teachers

Ms. Janbuvanian said that one of the drawbacks faced by the existing panchayat higher secondary school was shortage of teachers. The number of teachers for class 10 and class 12 was insufficient. Moreover, the teachers were forced to handle too many students. They say that they are not able to give personal attention to students. This had a direct impact on the pass percentage achieved by the school.

Ms. Janbuvanian said that the panchayat on its own initiative had appointed teachers on consolidated pay. Most of the teachers in the panchayat higher secondary school were working on a part time basis. The panchayat incurred a monthly expense of Rs. 1 lakh towards the salaries of teachers appointed on a part time basis. This led to a severe financial crisis.

The Chairperson said that the existing school was on a 12-acre area. Though there had been a demand for construction of a compound wall around the school, the panchayat was not in a position to raise the wall owong to financial constraints. As a result the school is often misused by the anti social elements. The district administration could help in the construction of the compound wall and fulfil the long-pending demand for a separate girls higher secondary school.

The land for the construction of the school had been given adjacent to the Mullai Vadivel Park, which is no longer being used by the public.

Demand for PHC

Ms. Janbuvanian said that another one-and-a-half-acre of land had been handed over for construction of a full-fledged Primary Health Centre (PHC). At present, there was only a Primary Health Sub Centre in Nimmiampattu. The Sub Centre was not in a position to cater for the requirements of people in Nimmiampattu Panchayat. Patients from Nimmiampattu were required to go to the PHC at Alangayam for treatment.

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