Mumbai: Over 3,000 students out of school after BMC transfers them

The dilapidated building which is set to be pulled down, at Kher Nagar school complex. Pic/Nimesh Dave

Oversight on the part of the civic education department has led to over 3,000 students missing classes since July. These students are among the 4,928 enrolled in the 10 civic schools operating out of Kher Nagar school complex in Bandra East. All of these students were transferred to other schools after one of the two buildings in the complex was declared dilapidated and the other went for repairs. School administrations have submitted a detailed report to the BMC in the matter.

Officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's education department said that they were concerned about the students missing a big chunk of the academic year but added that the repairs were much needed and would be completed in time.

The reason

The two buildings of Kher Nagar school complex house 10 primary and secondary schools of English, Marathi, Hindi and Kannada mediums. There are a total of 120 classrooms that accommodate a total of 4,928 students, including 600 SSC students.

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Repair work in progress at one of the two buildings at Kher Nagar school complex. Pics/Nimesh Dave

After one building was declared dilapidated, all the students had to be crammed into the third and fourth floor of the other building. These two floors have a total of 22 classrooms, but six of these have been rented out to a private educational trust to run Kaiser College of Commerce.

When repair works started in the second building, the students were shifted to other schools in Kherwadi, Shivaji Nagar in Bandra East, Nirmal Nagar in Khar and Naryalwadi in Santacruz East.

BMC Education Officer (Independent Charge) Raju Tadvi said, "There are two buildings in the complex. One building in this school complex was dangerous and hence will be pulled down soon. Another one needed repair work and the same is underway. We don't want them [students] to miss the academic year. They have been relocated to neighbouring schools in the interim. The repair work will be finished as soon as possible."

The building which is undergoing repairs

"We have spoken with our engineer about the repairs and learnt that work till second floor has been completed. We have given six rooms to the trust which has been occupying the rooms since 2005 and all guidelines were followed. We will ensure that the students do not miss out on academics," he added.

Schools survey students

In August, headmasters and supervisors of these 10 schools collated a report of attendance and students' problems and submitted it to the civic education department. As per the report, almost 61 per cent of the students stopped attending school for various reasons. The report also mentioned some of the reasons cited by the students and their parents which include the new school being far away, classrooms in bad shape, non-availability of classrooms. It also cited that many primary students were allotted classes on higher floors, which is not feasible for the children.

As per sources, one of the headmasters informed the civic education department in writing that only 1,816 of the 4,928 students registered with the schools were in attendance.

Despite the letter and detailed report, the education department has failed to take any action on the matter.

‘Why start repairs now?'

In view of this, the teachers have raised questions as to why the administration decided to take up the repair work now when the other building had to be vacated. They added that the repair work could have been done during summer break.

Shivnath Darade, executive member of teachers' union Shikshak Parishad, said, "Majority of the students at civic schools come to school on their own and cannot afford travel expenses. Now in this case, when one building is set to be pulled down, why did the civic body start repair work of the other building which could have waited? This has forced 3,012 students out of school. We demand that the education department take immediate steps to get these students back to school. We demand an inquiry."

10
No. of schools that operate out of Kher Nagar school complex

4,928
No. of students enrolled with the 10 civic schools