The oldest and only Government Senior Secondary School for Boys in Kapurthala, built in 1915 by the then ruling Maharaja Jagatjit Singh, is now struggling to adjust students in the few rooms as the heritage school building was declared ‘unsafe’ by the Public Work Department (PWD) four years ago.
The school, which was a Model school earlier, is longing for attention and the lack of space is also forcing the authorities to deny admission to new students.
As per information, the school has strength of over 700 students presently from Classes 6 to 12. The school has only 10 classrooms and 22 sections of different classes with strength of more than 35 students in each section.
Due to large strength of students in senior classes and a shortage of rooms, around 200 students from Classes 6 to 8 are being forced to study in the verandah of the ‘unsafe’ building or under the trees on the ground.
Sources said the PWD department had sent the proposal of renovation to the state government twice in last three years. In 2014, the department had sent a proposal demanding around `90 lakh for renovation while in 2015, they asked for Rs 1.5 crore from the state government. But the government is yet to take a decision on the proposals.
Besides, the school has a good academic record as every year many students of the school make it to the merit list of annual board examinations.
Balwinder Singh, principal of the school said he was left with no option but to allow classes in the open ground due to lack of rooms in the school. “The matter has been taken up with the education department and local administration several times in the past months but to no avail. Due to shortage of space, we are not able to make new sections and are forced to deny admission to students in the new academic session,” he said.
Executive engineer of Kapurthala PWD Pawan Kumar said, “We have made the proposal twice in past years and sent it to the higher authorities for approval. But so far, we have not received any funds for its construction.”
Meanwhile, a college building situated near to school, which was also constructed 100 years ago by Jagatjit Singh is in a good condition as the authorities had spent good amounts on its renovation in recent years.
Kapurthala deputy commissioner, Jaskiran Singh said that he will take up the matter with the PWD department and education department.
