FARIDKOT – Bricks coming off the walls, dangling ceiling tiles and broken doors and windows. This sums up the condition of at least four government primary and elementary schools in Faridkot and Kotkapura.
Housing in decades old and crumbling buildings, the schools are waiting to be pulled down before these cave in on their own.
The schools are Government Primary School, Sadiq Road; Government Primary School, Police Lines; Government Elementary School, Gandhi Basti, Kotkapura; and Government Primary School, Lajpat Nagar, Kotkapura. The ownership of these buildings rests with the Jail Department, the Punjab Police, the Railways and the Municipal Committee, Kotkapura, respectively. The total student strength of these schools is over 700.
The schools have been functioning from dilapidated structures for the last many years. “No one complains when a brick comes off the walls or plaster falls from the ceiling as such incidents are routine,” said a teacher.
These schools have no toilets due to which the teachers and students have to face a harrowing time. There is no kitchen as well. The mid-day meal is cooked in the open.
