Adi Dravidar Welfare School lacks proper amenities

Lack of proper classrooms, adequate water facilities, poor sanitary complex, absence of security arrangements and compound wall are some of the key issues that students face at the Government Adi Dravidar Welfare Boys Higher Secondary School, Kattur in Tiruchi.

Lack of proper classrooms, adequate water facilities, poor sanitary complex, absence of security arrangements and compound wall are some of the key issues that students face at the Government Adi Dravidar Welfare Boys Higher Secondary School, Kattur in Tiruchi.

At present, around 150 underprivileged children are enrolled in the school. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, student strength was more than 500 students, but due to a lack of proper amenities, the enrolment of students is going down every year.

According to the parents, the lack of proper amenities has been plaguing the school for a long time. It is to be noted that the welfare school, which is more than 50 years old, falls in the constituency of Tiruverumbur, which is represented by Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi.

“The school is in a dilapidated state and is functioning without sufficient classrooms, and most of them are in bad shape. Students belonging to different classes are sitting in a single room,” said M. Jeyakumar, a parent.

Since the school does not have a compound wall, the building has become a meeting point for anti-social elements, which is unsafe for the students. Teachers find it challenging to control the students from skipping classes due to the lack of compound walls.

Further, they complained of unusable conditions toilets. “Hygiene is a major issue in the school, especially in toilets, which stink all the time as there is no water supply. Students also face difficulty in getting adequate drinking water,” he added.

Members of the School Management Committee (SMC) claim that they have been raising their voice regarding various issues since last year, but officials from the department do not pay heed to any of their concerns. “Despite repeated requests, no steps were taken by the authorities to renovate the old buildings to provide all necessary infrastructure facilities. The school is not even equipped with proper labs or a library,” said a member of the SMC.