DoE acts after kids boycott classes in Usgao

PONDA: Despite receiving a warning from disgruntled parents of the students of Government Primary School Dhaushirem-Usgao on Tuesday, the directorate of education swung in action only after students boycotted classes on Thursday. The directorate has offered a room in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan building and a computer laboratory from where to conduct classes till such time that the ongoing renovation work on the school building is completed.
The directorate has assured parents that at least two classrooms in the building will be made available in two months.
The school building was earmarked for renovation and the contractor had commenced work on the roof earlier this month, a fact that parents learned off only after the commencement of the academic year.
Initially, the directorate had made arrangements for conducting classes at the school’s open-air auditorium and from a room on the school’s premises. Parents were not agreeable to letting their children attend classes in such improper places and chairman, parents’ teachers’ association (PTA) Radhika Fatrekar had sent a letter to the additional district education inspector, Ponda, on Tuesday, warning that they would shift their children to other schools if the directorate failed to provide sufficient and suitable space to conduct classes.
On Thursday, parents marked their protest against government inaction by not sending their children to school. Following the boycott, director of education Gajanan Bhat along with assistant director (buildings) Shambhu Ghadi and legal advisor Dayanand Chawdikar visited the site and inspected the school premises.
“We have temporarily arranged for classes to be held in a room in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan building and a computer laboratory. The contractor has been asked to ready at least two rooms in two months,” Bhat said.