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Annual survey to identify dilapidated govt school buildings begins in Coimbatore.
The district school education department has started its annual audit of government school buildings to identify dilapidated structures. A report will be submitted to the district collector in the next 10 days. Based on the report, the PWD will demolish or repair the building.
The district school education department has started its annual exercise of auditing government school buildings to identify dilapidated structures in Coimbatore last week. Chief education officer N Arul Murugan is expected to submit a report to the district collector Archana Patnaik in the next 10 days.
Murugan has in turn delegated the duties to the district elementary education officer and the district education officer. "The officials are visiting all the schools, and identifying buildings. We will compile the details in a week and submit the complete report to the district collector in about 10 days," Murugan said.
Basis the report, the district collector will instruct the public works department (PWD) to initiate appropriate action. If the buildings lack stability, they will be demolished and new buildings will be constructed. "Otherwise, based on the extent of damage, repair works will be carried out," Murugan said.
Last year, the district school education department had spent ₹ 2.13 crore and constructed 32 new classrooms in government schools. The department also incurred an expenditure of ₹34 lakh on major repairs like replacing ceilings, repairing walls, doors and windows etc. in 12 schools.
The schools are not only checked by the annual audit but also an ongoing monitoring process has been instituted where a school-level committee is set up by the school education department. "The school's head along with the vice-principal and some teachers form the committee. They will report to the district elementary education officer and the district education officer about the damage," said a senior official of the school education department.
While the annual audit of government schools has just commenced, the Coimbatore Corporation has already identified and carried out necessary repair works.
A senior official of the civic body said, "All schools were inspected before the assembly election. Patch works were carried out in some schools, and ramps were set up in some schools to facilitate locomotion of handicapped persons."
The official added, "Since all 83 schools were polling booths, we had completed the necessary repair works before the polling date."