Gandhiji School lying in a shambles

Vijayawada: A century-old Gandhiji Municipal High School at One Town falls was lying in a shambles. The sprawling playground is making way for an underground drainage sump and electricity sub-station. A portion of the school premises was taken over for road expansion. In fact, the school's first floor was given for a women's college for lease, which was already expired.

The school is popular in entire One Town and even in Krishna district. A senior teacher of the school, ML Sesha Kumari, said that the school construction was done during 1912-13. The school was established in 1916 while it got recognition in 1921, she recalled.

Popular figures like film star- turned- politician N T Rama Rao studied here. The school strength was dropped to 350 from about 2,000 two decades ago. There are several reasons for fall in students’ strength.

According to Sesha Kumari, during tenure of municipal commissioner MGVK Bhanu a portion of the school was given on lease to private persons. “We fought against leasing the first floor of the school to run a women’s college.

The lease period was restricted to 23 years as against 99 years after students and parents waged a war against the government which issued the GO. Now, the college occupied the first floor as the lease period was lapsed,” she said.

She further stated that there is no cleanliness as the garbage from the first floor lands on the school premises which is located on the ground floor. A separate land was allocated to the college, but the college is being run on the premises of the school, she said.

Sanskrit teacher M Narsimhacharyulu said that a total 16 teachers were taking classes while another six teachers work for IIT Foundation Course. The school was the third school among the municipal schools which teach Sanskrit, he added.

He lamented that sad things happening on the premises. The school was working half-day from 7.45 am to 12.30 pm as summer holidays commence from April 23. As both the school and college were being run on the same premises, prayer and arrival timings of school and college clash, he added.

He further stated that on Republic Day, both school and college hoisted national flag at two places on the same ground. Local MLA and others who attended the function never objected to two functions on the same premises, he reminded.

P Neeraja, head mistress, said there seems to be no ending to the troubles of the school. As two institutions were being run on the same premises, the main gate remains open every time. Anti-social elements also reign on the premises. They already spoiled toilets. “We constructed them again with the help of an NGO.”

Narsimhacharyulu, said, “Our playground is encroached on many counts. A portion of playground was lost by road widening. Electricity sub-station occupied a considerable chunk of the ground. Piles of silt removed from drains were also dumped on the school premises. Nobody allows radiation-causing telephone towers. But a private telephone operator installed a tower beside main gate of the school”.

By: Noor Shaik