Students, teachers of KMC schools in rented properties to be shifted
Kolkata: Students and teachers of Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s (KMC) primary schools that function out of rented properties will now be shifted to other KMC schools situated within civic body-owned-buildings, on account of the rented structures being in a dilapidated condition.
Firhad Hakim, on Friday, said there are several schools under the KMC which barely have any students and are housed inside rented buildings. Such structures, Hakim said, are in a precarious condition since the owners of those properties do not spend on maintenance. Any portion of these structures may collapse some day, he feared.
“For the safety of students and teachers, we will be shifting them and merging them with the rest of the KMC primary schools housed in buildings owned and maintained by us,” Hakim said.
Asked how many such schools are there, Hakim said there are six of them in the city within KMC limits. Commenting on whether it can create complications for students and parents in case the schools where the students are transferred are far from their home, he said: “KMC has primary schools in almost every ward. Also, there are hardly any students in the schools that function out of rented properties. But there are teachers appointed for these schools despite lack of students. The merger will also help in utilising teachers in an efficient manner. We need to stop wastage of resources.” He added that he has also conveyed the plan to state Education minister Bratya Basu.
The Mayor, commenting on what would happen to the rented properties once the staff and students are shifted, said: “We will continue as tenants in these properties. We will use them for other purposes, such as storage rooms, vaccination centres, tax assessment camps etc.”
Hakim also added: “KMC is also trying to develop model schools. We are taking help from corporate social responsibility funds since we have insufficient funds. We are also trying to introduce e-learning in KMC schools.”
