Students sit in open as building materials occupy classrooms in Ongole

Ongole: The gates of the schools are opened to welcome the primary school children, after nearly a year. But the students suffered whenever the works of infrastructure under the Nadu- Nedu programme are still unfinished and pending due to non-payment of bills.

A headmaster at a Municipal Primary School in Ongole said that most of the works are complete, but few parts like painting, linking the water tanks to the taps, etc., are pending as the money is not yet paid to the contractors.

T Jyothi, the mother of a fifth class student questioned what's the use of opening the schools when the students are forced to sit under the sun and breathe the dust from the ongoing works. She opined that the government should have postponed the reopening until they complete the works.

The DEO of Prakasam, VS Subbarao said that about 3200 schools providing primary education are opened for the students on Monday and they received about 60 per cent of attendance. He said that the school headmaster and local officials are given instructions on conducting the classes regularly or day-by-day according to the pupil strength and number of classrooms available. He said that they have strictly ordered for the completion of all pending works under the Nadu- Nedu programme, by the January-end. He said that he will personally look into the matter and see the pending works complete as soon as possible.