Sky is their roof, road their classroom

HUBLI: Slogans like `Chacha Nehru Ki Jai' and `Happy Children's Day' were heard long before one reached this school while the students practised speeches for the big day on Saturday. They were excited about Children's Day and as cheerful as students of any other school. The only difference is that their `school' is a busy road and not a building. This is the sad tale of the pre-primary government school in Ram Manohar Lohia Nagar in Hubli.
The school has 67 students from classes I to IV.All these days, it had one teacher. K A Morab doubled as the headmistress and class teacher for all the classes. Last week, another teacher was posted to the school.
When the school opens in the morning, students sit on the road while the teachers stand, and they all battle the sound, dust and heat. The teachers have to shout at the top of their voice to be heard. "It is difficult. We would like to have a building of our own soon," Morab said, adding she has already written to the government, explaining the problem.
MIRED IN RED TAPE
The problem, like in any other issues faced by the people in deprived north Karnataka, is red tape. When the government sanctioned the school for the poor folk living in RML Nagar four years ago, it did not care to sanction a building. In fact, the government did not even notify a piece of land on which the school could come up later. The education department kept pointing fingers at the Hubli-Dharwad Urban Development Authority (HDUDA) for granting land for the school, while the latter kept putting off the decision to grant land for the school. This game has been going on for four years and students continue to suffer.
"We had fought hard to get a school in our locality. When we asked them about the school building, education department officials pointed to a small, empty Ashraya house built by the Zilla Panchayat under the government housing scheme. We were never happy with the arrangement," R V Hirewodeyar, a local, said.
The house was allotted to a poor lady, who had not occupied it. Education department officials seemed to believe she would never come back. But she did come back a month ago. That day, she asked the students and the teachers to vacate her house. Since then, the students have made the road their school.
FUTILE PROTESTS
"Government officials kept telling us that the school would have its own building soon. But that never happened. Meanwhile, they continued to use the Ashraya house to run the school. They never imagined a situation where the woman, who was allotted the house, would come back and claim it," Nagaraja Nadakarni, a resident of RML Nagar, said.
"We have protested many times, but in vain. Now we have decided that if the government does not solve our problem immediately, we will run the school in the house of an MLA or an MP. We hope at least then they will listen to us," he added.
The school is not in a remote area. In fact, the Hubli airport is just a kilometre away from here. While the airport is aspiring to be upgraded to international standards, the school is yet to get a room of its own.
When contacted, district minister Murugesh Nirani said that he would take immediate action to find a building for the school. "We will ensure that children and teachers don't suffer," he said.