The parents of students studying in Nesapakkam Corporation primary school, Chennai, staged a protest against the shoddy infrastructure resulting in a holiday on Monday, August 21, reported The New Indian Express.
Currently, there are around 600 students enrolled in the school.
On Saturday, a portion of the beam broke and fell off, as per the parents. Following this, parents staged a protest outside the school on Monday and refused to send their wards to school, added TNIE.
"Authorities react only when we hit the streets," said Lakshmanan, a member of the parent-teacher association. "The school has been in bad shape for over two years and huge cracks have developed over time. We submitted several petitions to the corporation but to no avail. After the incident on Saturday, we fear for the safety of our children," he further said.
The corporation officials visited the school and inspected the building following the protest. After receiving assurance from officials, parents called off the protest.
An official with the Education Department of Corporation told TNIE, "Engineers inspected the building and certified it to be safe. The cracks are minor and can be fixed through retrofitting. We have made temporary arrangements. Classes till the second grade will continue in the additional building on the same premises. For third to fifth grade, classrooms are allotted in the Nesapakkam high school. In the meantime, repair works will be carried out."
When questioned about the condition of other schools, the official added, "We don't have similar issues elsewhere. We will inspect and ensure the safety of school buildings."
