Government school in doldrums as seven classes are conducted in two rooms

Bagalkot

The state government keeps talking about its several programmes to encourage the primary and secondary education in the state, but the stark reality is that many schools in the state lack basic amenities.

Shortage of classrooms and toilets, dilapidated school buildings, absence of playground and other such problems are common, especially in north Karnataka districts.

In the age when there is talk of using hitech and Artificial Intelligence   at the primary and secondary education level, there are schools bereft of basic facilities.
BN Jalihal in Badami taluk of   district provides best example for the pathetic condition of schools in the region.

There is a government primary school in the village, where nearly 300 students study from class 1 to 7. The school has three rooms,  one is used as an office room, and the remaining two as classrooms.

While the students of class 1 to 3 are made to sit in one room, where Nali-Kali classes are held, students of class 5, 6 and 7 are made to sit in the other room. The third room houses the office and also doubles as a classroom for class 4 students. As the roof of rooms are leaking and are on the verge of collapsing, teachers take classes in the verandah and the open space outside the school building.

Chief minister Siddaramaiah had represented Badami in the assembly from 2018 to 2023. Now Bhimsen Chimmanakatti of the ruling Congress is the MLA. If a school in the constituency represented by Siddaramaiah is in such a pathetic condition, imagine the plight of other schools,  said an elderly person from Jalihal.

The villagers said that a school room was built 15 years ago at Asare Extension, which is 3km from the village.