Over 150 Patuakhali primary school buildings unfit for use

Over 150 primary school buildings in seven out of eight upazilas in Patuakhali district have become badly damaged and unfit for use due to lack of proper maintenance.

The District Primary Education Office (DPEO) sent a list of 107 school buildings to the higher authorities two months ago seeking immediate renovation of the buildings, which were built between 1980 and 2007.

According to the list, 25 buildings are in Baufal upazila, 22 in Galachipa, 15 each in Dashmina and Mirzaganj, 14 in Patuakhali Sadar, nine in Kalapara and seven in Rangabali upazilas, while there is no vulnerable school building in Dumki upazila, DPEO sources said.

In most of these schools students suffer a lot due to the insufficient space. Rainwater enters the buildings through cracks, and the plaster on the walls and ceilings has crumbled. Local authorities have erected tin-shed rooms in most areas to hold the classes, they said.

Student Fahima of Marichbunia Government Primary School in Patuakhali Sadar upazila said their books and clothes get wet when the rainwater enters the building.

Guardian Abu Bakar said the parents are always worried as their children study in the vulnerable building from 9:00am to 4:00pm daily.

An accident might occur any time as the building's condition is very bad, he added.

Over 200 students of Dakkhin Kazir Howla Government Primary School in Rangabali upazila attend classes at great risk as the school building is in very bad shape and may collapse anytime, locals said.

Some well-off locals set up a tin-roof building in 1969 to spread education among the children in the remote char area, while the government listed the school as a registered primary school in 1979 and nationalised it in 2013, they added.

The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) built a one-storey building in 1980, but it has not been renovated since then.

Acting headmaster of the school Lutfur Rahman said plaster at many places of the building fell off and water enters the building during the rainy season.

There are 203 students in the school, including 112 girls, he added.

Rangabali Upazila Primary Education Officer Golam Sagir said they have requested the higher authorities to construct a new concrete building.

Assistant District Primary Education Officer Mollah Bakhtiar Uddin said they sent a list of 107 vulnerable schools in seven upazilas to the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) on September 24 this year to take necessary steps over the matter, but have not received any reply yet.

Executive Engineer of Patuakhali LGED Abu Saleh Md Hanif said DPE has sent them a list of vulnerable schools and also given allocation for repair and renovation of the buildings.