Thrissur: A group of pre-primary students escaped a tragedy after a portion of roof tiles and a false ceiling of the Government LP School in Thiruvilwamala here collapsed on Friday morning. Fortunately, none of the 71 students in the pre-primary section were hurt as the incident occurred minutes before classes began.
Venugopal Nair, PTA president, told Onmanorama: “The incident occurred around 9.50 am. Today, the school bus was late and the students had just started entering the classrooms. The school is more than a hundred years old and that particular building is at least seven decades old. We have been carrying out minor repair and maintenance work now and then. But the need of the hour is a new building for these children.”
Headmistress Naseema J told Onmanorama that the teachers who were present quickly vacated the students from the building, which has two classrooms and a play hall. “The rafters of the roof were in a dilapidated condition. As there was an aluminium-fabricated false ceiling under the roof, we missed noticing the condition of the rafters. The panchayat authorities have agreed to repair the roof immediately. Till then, the students will be accommodated in other classrooms,” the headmistress said. Following the incident, the students were made to sit under an aluminium-sheet-roofed hall till evening.
Minister’s constituency, 4 acres of land, but no drinking water source
Situated in the Chelakkara constituency, represented by Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes and Devaswoms K Radhakrishnan, Thiruvilwamala GLP School is one of the oldest schools in the area. Currently, nearly 300 students, including special children, study in the school which is situated on four acres of land. However, the school still doesn’t have a proper drinking water source. Drinking water is brought from the nearby high school compound.
The PTA committee submitted several applications demanding new school buildings. “The panchayat authorities, first ruled by the BJP and now the Congress with the support of the CPM, always say they would sanction funds for the maintenance. However, what the school requires is new buildings. How can we risk these many children?” asked the PTA president.
The PTA committee had submitted a petition (Receipt no: TSR0612468) during the Nava Kerala Sadas, held in the constituency on December 4, requesting to sanction a new building for the school. The current status of the petition is “Under inquiry at Thiruvilwamala Grama Panchayat”.
