lack of hygiene and security at the schools highlighted
Councillors in the Coimbatore Corporation have criticised the education department of the civic body for the lack of hygiene and security at the schools run by it.While raising in the Council the issue of shortage of staff recently, Communist Party of India (Marxist) member C.Padmanabhan drew the attention of Mayor R. Venkatachalam to poor hygiene in the schools.This was because of the lack of adequate number of conservancy workers, he said. Students were forced to study in unhygienic surroundings and these conditions did not seem to have made the Corporation take any step to solve the problem of shortage of workers.Education Committee chairman and Communist Party of India member R. Kalyanasundaram lamented the conditions in the schools and complained that the lack of watchmen had led to anti-social elements entering the campuses during night.“Children and teachers can enter the classrooms in the morning only after empty liquor bottles left behind by these elements are removed,” he said.“At a time when the entire nation is campaigning against child labour, I get some disturbing reports that children are forced to clean the classrooms almost every day. Parents tell me that the children leave home early even without breakfast because they have to rid the classrooms of liquor bottles and other waste items. It is only after this they begin to study,” he said.
Many other councillors also joined the protest against the education department and demanded an explanation as to why steps had not been taken for a long time to improve the conditions in many schools.Mr. Kalyanasundaram said that his committee had moved a resolution at its meeting five months ago to demand more conservancy staff and watchmen. This was forwarded to the authorities concerned.But, nothing had been done so far to solve the problems faced by the teachers and students. “There seems to be a conscious effort at ignoring our resolutions,” he alleged.With the complaints getting shriller by the minute, the Mayor asked Corporation Education Officer W. Robert Karunakaran to make a list of the number of conservancy staff and watchmen required for all the schools. He assured the members that every possible step would be taken to ensure that schools were kept clean and off bounds for anti-social elements.
