Classroom shortage forces lessons on school veranda

Despite moderate to heavy rainfall caused by a low-pressure system, classes continued at Surshail Government Primary School No. 41 in Chitalmari upazila of Bagerhat on Monday.

Class III students were attending lessons on the school’s veranda at around 2:00 pm. Assistant teacher Lily Majumdar stood with an umbrella in one hand and a piece of chalk in the other as she wrote on the blackboard.

Meanwhile, students, partially soaked by rain blowing onto the veranda, struggled to follow the lesson.

Sheets of polythene hung along the veranda failed to keep them dry, and gusts of wind repeatedly drenched their books and notebooks.

Surshail Government Primary School, established in 1952, has long enjoyed a good reputation.

However, after a new academic building was constructed, the old building was auctioned and demolished, creating a shortage of classrooms.

As a result, the school’s two-shift system now requires Classes II and III to be held on the veranda.

Third-grade students Taskin and Arafat said they have to attend classes on the veranda in both scorching heat and heavy rain.

Assistant teacher Lily Majumdar said the problem would not exist if the school had enough classrooms.

Headteacher Kalyani Rani Barai said the school has long been suffering from shortages of both teachers and classrooms. She added that the matter has already been reported to the higher authorities.

Achynta Lal Chandra Das, Upazila Primary Education Officer of Chitalmari, said the problem cannot be permanently resolved due to a lack of funding.

“For the time being, we have requested the construction of a tin-shed classroom to accommodate the students,” he said.