Last week, a class VII student was injured when plaster fell off a classroom roof in GHS, Maloya. Education Department officials said they had complained about a couple of school buildings to the Engineering Department but it had not taken any action. The Engineering Department, meanwhile, maintains that it hasn’t received any such complaint from the Education Department.

Both, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 47 and Sector 32, have complained about their buildings and the principals have notified the Education Department.

Said Director Public Instructions (Schools), S K Setia : “I had personally visited GMSSS-32 where I noticed cracks in the building. Though I had informed former chief engineer J K Bharadwaj, the department took no action”. The GMSSS-47 building, too, has developed several cracks.

UT Chief Engineer S K Jaitely said: “I have not come across any complaint about damaged buildings. This is a very serious issue. I will definitely look into the matter and clarify things with officials from the Education Department”. Several school buildings in the city were constructed way back in the 1950s. Officials from the department have decided to survey all government schools.

Action against private schools over underprivileged quota

Taking note of irregularities in various private schools in the city, the Education Department is planning to take stern action against them which may include cancellation of recognition. The schools which are under the scanner include Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, Moti Ram Arya Senior Secondary School, Sector 27 and Bhawan Vidyalaya, Sector 27 among others.

One of the major discrepancies is that these schools are reportedly not maintaining a 15 per cent reservation quota for children from the economically weaker sections.

According to Education officials, there are around 38 private schools under the scanner and action is likely against them.

According to DPI (Schools), S K Setia, “We will start checking private schools and teams of officials have already been assigned schools. They will start their visits from Tuesday”.