‘Tattered carpets arranged from

gurdwara

and mandir’

CHANDIGARH: A shocking one-fifth of 24,81,240 students in Punjab’s government schools have to study in classrooms without any furniture. Punjab has around 25,000 government schools in its 22 districts.A total of 4,96,028 students in a large number of Punjab’s government schools, especially primary, study in abysmal conditions.The Punjab education department conducted a gap analysis to ascertain the shortage of furniture in the government-run schools in the state.As per data compiled by the department, there are 4,96,028 students from prenursery to Class XII who go to schools that have no provision of furniture. Of these, 2,90,267 study in Class I to V.The study found that Pathankot , Fazilka, Ropar, Tarn Taran and Sangrur were some of the worst-affected districts.This lack of facilities, especially furniture, has also affected attendance in these schools.Three-year-old Balraj Singh wants his parents to change his school as the government primary school in Nurpur Bedi, Ropar, where he studies, has no desks or chairs. Without furniture, Balraj Singh and his 31 classmates have to sit on a mat covering uneven floor of the classroom.The school has around 150 students from nursery to Class V, but has only 18 benches.The state government is providing no support. Even the tattered carpets on which the students sit have been arranged by the villagers from nearby gurdwara and mandir,” Ajmer Singh, father of Balraj Singh, said. He added that it becomes difficult for children to sit on cold floor during winters and this leads to very thin attendance in that season.In the government primary school at Sarna, Pathankot, there is no proper seating arrangement for 151 of its 161 students and the government primary school in Arni Wala Sheikh Subha, Fazilka, does not have furniture for 403 of 438 students enrolled there. In government high school Tharu, Tarn Taran, 284 of 350 students have to manage without furniture.Harjit Singh Saini, general secretary of the Punjab State Elementary Teachers Association, said the government schools in the state have witnessed a drop in enrolments in the recent years, courtesy lack of proper infrastructure. “Why will parents send their children to government schools, which can’t even provide furniture for students to sit and study?” questioned Saini.