The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : A school lunch break goes awry

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Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

A school lunch break goes awry

Staff Reporter

An SMV school student was trapped in classroom

IN DISTRESS: Fire and Rescue Services personnel trying to extricate a student whose foot was caught between furniture at SMV Government Model Higher Secondary School in the city on Monday.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 13-year-old student of SMV Government Model Higher Secondary School had to endure a distressing lunch break on Monday when one of his legs got wedged between classroom furniture.

Sajid A.S, a Class VIII student and a native of Karakulam, was taking a nap on his bench after lunch when he unwittingly slipped his left foot into a small crevice between a bench and an adjacent desk permanently rooted to the ground using iron hinges.

The teenager realised his predicament when he woke up. With his foot caught between the furniture, Sajid could not get up. Efforts by his classmates to free him proved futile.

“We then went and informed the headmaster,” N. Nouful, a student of the class, said. The school management immediately alerted the personnel of the Fire and Rescue Services, who set the boy free after slogging for over an hour using hydraulic equipment. The boy sustained minor bruises in the incident.

“The teenager was all frightened and worried and started crying as we tried to get his leg out of the wedge,” S.L. Dileep, station officer, Fire and Rescue Services and one of the personnel involved in the rescue, said.

This is the second time Mr. Dileep and his team have responded to an emergency call from the school management in the past few months. A similar distress call was sounded nearly three months ago when a leg of Abhilash Chandran, a Class IX student, got stuck between the classroom furniture.

The personnel of the fire service unit said they would now give a written representation to the school headmaster asking him to replace the decades-old furniture with student-friendly ones.

The school currently has around 200 immovable teakwood desks and benches spread across 15 classrooms. The furniture is said to have been imported from Germany during the reign of Sri Chitra Tirunal.

Marshal K. Jose, school headmaster, told The Hindu that in the wake of the latest incident, the school would replace all existing furniture with new ones. “We do not want something like this to happen for a third time. So we have decided to convene a PTA meeting at the earliest and take the necessary steps,” he said.

Nevertheless, replacing almost the entire furniture is easier said than done. All the classrooms that accommodate the imported furniture have been specifically designed to accommodate them, with the benches and desks arranged at various levels evoking the ambience of a theatre.

“Before getting the new furniture, the classrooms have to be levelled,” the headmaster said. “This can cost several lakhs of rupees. We hope the city Corporation will provide us with the necessary financial support,” he said.

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