Children on the floor at Jhero Krittibas Primary School. Picture by Debabrota Biswas

Balagarh, Feb. 24: A 60-year-old school in Hooghly does not have chairs and tables for children, most of whom stop attending classes during winter because the floors are too cold to sit on.

Some of the students of Jhero Krittibas Primary School bring gunny bags from home, lay them on the floor and sit, but that is a feeble defence against the seeping, damp cold.

Only Class IV has four benches, where 30 students sit by rotation.

The school in Balagarh, about 80km from Calcutta, was founded in 1948. It has 122 students.

Guardians said they had repeatedly requested the school authorities to buy benches but in vain.

Mrityunjoy Bauldas, whose son did not attend school for over a month this winter, said: “We make the same request to the authorities every year.”

Mrityunjoy’s son is in Class II.

The district administration said it was unaware of the children’s plight.

Officials said the school got around Rs 7,000 a year under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for maintenance and other expenses. The government pays the teachers’ salary.

“I had no idea that the condition of the school was so miserable. The school authorities get money from the government. It is their duty to make sure the school has the necessary infrastructure,” said district magistrate Binod Kumar.

Over 500 people of the two villages of Jhero and Bauldaspara in Balagarh depend on Jhero Krittibas Primary School for their children’s basic education.

“Every winter, and even during the rains, our children fall ill frequently,” said Rabindra Bauldas, the father of a Class III student.

Sitting in the sun-drenched courtyard in front of his house, Class IV student Rabi Bauldas said: “We told our teachers how we get chilled to the bone in the cold, but they did not respond.”

He preferred his courtyard to the classroom for most of the winter.

During monsoon, students not only sit on damp floors but also wade through knee-deep slush to reach school.

The primary school coun-cil said the school had been getting the annual funds since 1993. “A sum of Rs 5,000 is meant for maintenance of the school while the rest is to buy teaching aids like books and dic-tionaries and equipment for sports and games. There are no funds for desks and benches,” said Kshitish Patra, the council’s Hooghly chairman.

“Almost 80 per cent of the 3,000 primary schools in the district don’t have benches. Those that have them must have taken some special initiative,” he added.

A bench to seat four students and a desk will cost around Rs 1,200, said Dipankar Biswas, a carpenter. “If bought in bulk, the price will come down to about Rs 1,000.”

At Jhero Krittibas, an almirah was bought this year for teachers to keep exercise books and papers.

Headmaster Sushanta Mitra said: “Most of the money we get is used for repair work. We bought the almirah because it was more important than the benches. We are looking for NGOs who can help us.”