Alappuzha: Iron rods jut out of a concrete block of a partly done foundation at the entrance of Kuppapuram High School situated along the Alappuzha - Veliyanadu ferry route in Mankombu block. Nearby lies a mound of earth with a rash of dried up grass. Small piles of crushed rock, rock sand eat up the premises. This doesn't exactly fit Kerala's flaunted image of a school building.
Around 145 students here take their lessons in a school without a compound wall . The campus is littered with rubble and debris. There are serious safety concerns. The school compound opens to the backwaters and teachers keep a constant vigil so that the children don't stray out of the campus. The only access to the school is via water. This means that every time there is an attempt to construct a compound wall, transportation of building materials via the backwaters becomes a huge concern.
The staff and teachers hardly take their weekly offs because if they do, what await them would be a scene of misery. With no wall to protect, many intruders enter the school. The teachers and parents are worried about the safety of the students as well as the belongings of the school. In the last few weeks school property has been damaged and vandalised. Taps were broken, storage boxes meant for rice were burnt and materials stored in the shed have been stolen. Trespassers feel free to use the school toilets. Stray dogs and anti-social elements make it their home at night.
The old wall around the school was in a bad shape following the floods in Kerala. The dilapidated wall was demolished by Kainakary Panchayat with a promise to build a new wall in 2022. In fact, a budget of Rs.45 lakhs has already been sanctioned. The project was handed over to a Pathanamthitta based contractor but he left it soon after the demolition claiming that the water transportation cost was not covered in the budget. The debris left behind adds to the eyesore.
"Recently after persistent talks with the authorities, a makeshift wall has been erected but the security threat still lingers," says Shalini Joy, Headmistress of Kuppapuram High School.
"The paperwork for the next draft of the project with a new contract is now in process. The work will begin as soon as it is done," says K. G. Rajeshwari, District Panchayat President, Alappuzha.
In the past, promises have been made by many organisations to help the school in different ways. However, because the school is inaccessible, many of the projects could not be implemented. “We’ve floated the tender many times, but nobody is coming forward citing the huge expense they will incur. We’ve written to the District Panchayat to intervene and get the work done at the earliest," said Kainakary Gramapanchayat President M C Prasad.
