Maharashtra: 22,716 zilla parishad school classrooms unsafe, data shows

Minister of State for School Education Pankaj Bhoyar has revealed that 23973 classrooms in 60344 zilla parishad schools across Maharashtra require major repairs while another 22716 have been declared unsafe for years The data has sparked criticism from stakeholders who slammed the government for failing to indicate when the classrooms would be repaired or rebuiltCongress MLA from Latur city Amit Deshmukh on March 24 posed questions in the Assembly regarding the exact number of unsafe classrooms in zilla parishad schools total funds required for repair and reconstruction the budgetary provisions made by the government for the current year and finally the estimated timeframe for completing these crucial repairsResponding to these queries Bhoyar presented data from the UDISE 20232024 report highlighting the scale of the problem but stopped short of offering concrete solutions or a detailed roadmap Deshmukh alleged However Bhoyar assured the House that a comprehensive plan for repairing zilla parishad school buildings would be prepared but no specifics were providedCriticism from OppositionDeshmukh a former medical education minister said ldquoThe information revealed by the minister of state was an eyeopener exposing the dire state of school infrastructure in Maharashtra His response indicated that the number of classrooms requiring repairs and those declared unsafe runs into thousands However his reply on the way forward and the governments plans was far from satisfactoryrdquoldquoThere is no clear estimate or roadmap on how the government plans to address this crisis They have no answers on the amount of funds required or the time frame needed to repair and reconstruct these classroomsThe ministry itself appears clueless They talk about building and developing digital classrooms but they first need to ensure basic amenities like clean toilets and reliable electricity This is an extremely precarious situation and the governmentrsquos failure to allocate adequate funds for developing and repairing school infrastructure is appallingrdquo he saidThe legislator added ldquoThere is no intent to resolve this issue with urgency they are moving at a snailrsquos pace without sufficient funding Had they prioritised education and school infrastructure the way they do for projects like Shaktipeeth Marg Samruddhi Mahamarg or Metro projects the situation wouldnrsquot have deteriorated to this extent Unfortunately sectors like health and education remain at the bottom of this governments priority list or worse they seem to be missing from their priorities altogetherrdquoDeshmukh also criticised the Mahayuti government for its failure to implement the landmark RTE Act in the state inconveniencing not only to students and parents but also private schools He said ldquoThe governmentrsquos lack of interest in reimbursing fees to private schools reflects a clear lack of commitment Private schools are left with no choice but to approach the courts to secure the reimbursements they are entitled tordquolsquoData is shockingrsquoCriticising the school education department Maytri Nandedkar academician and principal of a Navi Mumbai school said ldquoThis is appalling the education department is sitting on data that shows thousands of classrooms needing urgent repair while many have been declared unsafe Yet they have failed to give a timeline of how and when they plan to resolve this issue There are still so many schools in rural Maharashtra which do not have toilets forget a separate toilet for girls and boys Before announcing megaprojects the government needs to first address this problemrdquoArundhati Chavan president of the Parentsrsquo Teachersrsquo Association PTA United Forum said ldquoWhile we appreciate many of the recent initiatives taken by the school education department it is shocking to see that we have yet to achieve even the most basic standards A clean and wellmaintained classroom is a fundamental requirement for any school If we fail to provide that how can we expect to successfully implement other programmes aimed at improving school education in the state And how can the muchtalkedabout Majhi Shala Sundar Shala scheme succeed under such conditionsrdquoOfficial SpeakA senior official of the school education department said ldquoThe minister replied to the question asked It does not mean that the department is not doing anything about it Repair and construction are ongoing in every district where such classrooms were identified We have to carry out this project in a phasewise mannerrdquo