Pulwama: Just few meters away from the district headquarters, a Middle school namely Government Middle School Washbugh in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district lacks some of the most basic facilities that should have, otherwise, been available.
The school seems to have been isolated in so far as the revival of Government-run schools is concerned as the school is in a dilapidated condition.
This reporter, who happened to be doing his Internal Practice of Teaching (IPOT) in the school, found the school on its last legs.
Although the newly transferred staff members are doing their best to provide quality education to the enrolled students but the dearth of basic facilities has got them concerned, having no answers to the anguish of the students.
Non-availability of non-teaching staff is one of most annoying experience that the Headmistress of the school has to face. Besides, the school has no library and lacks a laboratory as well.
Most of the furniture including chairs and tables in Government Middle School Washbugh are broken and not usable. Things like dusters are also shared among Primary and Middle classes!
Whenever there is rainfall, the school gets flooded with water seeping into the kitchen meant for mid-day meals. The cook, who also works as a sweeper on a meagre remuneration paid out from the pockets of the teaching staff, complains that she finds readying meals extremely difficult during rainy days.
The toilets in the school are also affected. The, rather small, school lawn turns into a pond as there is no proper drainage system.
Compared to other Government schools, the school has a good number of students enrolled which makes it imperative for the concerned authorities to take immediate steps in order to provide them quality facilities. This is also important in order to retain such students whose parents are counting private schools as their last option owing to poor infrastructure and unhygienic conditions here.
The woes of students of this school were also reported in national news channels also. The problems of this school were especially highlighted by ETV Urdu and Gulistan News channels.
The students of this school wish to sit on benches like their counterparts in other Middle schools but it is to be seen whether the concerned authorities will make their wish a reality!
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