Mumbai: Over 3,000 students out of school after BMC transfers them

Oversight on the part of the civic education department has led to over 3000 students missing classes since July These students are among the 4928 enrolled in the 10 civic schools operating out of Kher Nagar school complex in Bandra East All of these students were transferred to other schools after one of the two buildings in the complex was declared dilapidated and the other went for repairs School administrations have submitted a detailed report to the BMC in the matterOfficials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporationrsquos education department said that they were concerned about the students missing a big chunk of the academic year but added that the repairs were much needed and would be completed in timeThe reasonThe two buildings of Kher Nagar school complex house 10 primary and secondary schools of English Marathi Hindi and Kannada mediums There are a total of 120 classrooms that accommodate a total of 4928 students including 600 SSC studentsAlso Read Mumbai BMC school enrollments plummeted by 27 per cent in 10 years ReportRepair work in progress at one of the two buildings at Kher Nagar school complex PicsNimesh DaveAfter one building was declared dilapidated all the students had to be crammed into the third and fourth floor of the other building These two floors have a total of 22 classrooms but six of these have been rented out to a private educational trust to run Kaiser College of CommerceWhen repair works started in the second building the students were shifted to other schools in Kherwadi Shivaji Nagar in Bandra East Nirmal Nagar in Khar and Naryalwadi in Santacruz EastBMC Education Officer Independent Charge Raju Tadvi said ldquoThere are two buildings in the complex One building in this school complex was dangerous and hence will be pulled down soon Another one needed repair work and the same is underway We donrsquot want them students to miss the academic year They have been relocated to neighbouring schools in the interim The repair work will be finished as soon as possiblerdquoThe building which is undergoing repairsldquoWe have spoken with our engineer about the repairs and learnt that work till second floor has been completed We have given six rooms to the trust which has been occupying the rooms since 2005 and all guidelines were followed We will ensure that the students do not miss out on academicsrdquo he addedSchools survey studentsIn August headmasters and supervisors of these 10 schools collated a report of attendance and studentsrsquo problems and submitted it to the civic education department As per the report almost 61 per cent of the students stopped attending school for various reasons The report also mentioned some of the reasons cited by the students and their parents which include the new school being far away classrooms in bad shape nonavailability of classrooms It also cited that many primary students were allotted classes on higher floors which is not feasible for the childrenAs per sources one of the headmasters informed the civic education department in writing that only 1816 of the 4928 students registered with the schools were in attendanceDespite the letter and detailed report the education department has failed to take any action on the matterlsquoWhy start repairs nowrsquoIn view of this the teachers have raised questions as to why the administration decided to take up the repair work now when the other building had to be vacated They added that the repair work could have been done during summer breakShivnath Darade executive member of teachersrsquo union Shikshak Parishad said ldquoMajority of the students at civic schools come to school on their own and cannot afford travel expenses Now in this case when one building is set to be pulled down why did the civic body start repair work of the other building which could have waited This has forced 3012 students out of school We demand that the education department take immediate steps to get these students back to school We demand an inquiryrdquo10No of schools that operate out of Kher Nagar school complex4928No of students enrolled with the 10 civic schools