No. of students in govt primary schools in Siliguri increases

Siliguri: The state government has taken an initiative to revamp the education system of the state. As a result, the number of students in government primary schools has increased in Siliguri.

Consequently, the Siliguri District Primary Education Council has started renovation work in several primary schools which are in a dilapidated state. The council is trying to ensure that the students get proper education.

“After the COVID-19 period, we somehow managed to get the students back in schools and the way the number of students has increased is a positive aspect. We aim to maintain this number. Therefore, we are giving emphasis to repairing the schools’ infrastructure,” said Dilip Roy, Chairman of the Primary Council of Siliguri. There are 394 primary schools under Siliguri District Primary Education Council of which 105 schools are under Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) area.

Each school is looked after by the Primary Education Council.

However, it is learned that in some schools the classrooms are broken from inside while some do not have enough tables. In some schools, there is no proper arrangement for cooking mid-day meals.

During monsoon, sometimes schools are kept closed as stagnant water enters schools and the surrounding areas. There are about 100 such schools under Siliguri District Primary Education Council.

Most of the children of below poverty level study in government schools. During Covid, many had lost their jobs, due to which they did not send their children to school.

However, when the situation became normal, teachers went house to house, explained the parents about the importance of education and brought the children back to school.

Earlier, there were a total of 27,000 students studying in these primary schools, which has now increased to 43,000. This time, the council aims to maintain this number and has listed out the dilapidated schools and started repair works.

Meanwhile, the SMC also takes care of the primary schools. In this regard, Sobha Subba, the Member of Mayor-In-Council of Education department of SMC said: “We keep track with the schools everyday. All the schools are running well. We are also keeping an eye on the number of students.”