Students of the Hesal school attend classes under a tree. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Sept. 13: Santiniketan in Jharkhand?sounds incredible but it seems to be true. Welcome to Hesal, about 7 km from Ranchi, where students of a primary school assemble under two trees ? a banyan and a jackfruit ? every day at 10 am for their ?classes?.

The reason: not because the authorities believe in education in the lap of nature but because the school building had collapsed five years ago and the government did not build another one for the students.

The parents of the 110-odd students of the school are mostly rickshaw-pullers, scooter mechanics and farmers and belong to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories.

The absence of a proper building does not seem to deter the children, who regularly attend their classes.

The likes of Arvind Gupta, Kajal Kumari Baraik, Chotu Nayak and Sobha Kumari who are serious about their studies and do not mind sitting under the trees to listen to their teachers.

?I want to join the army to drive away terrorists from my country. I attend school daily because I want to transform my dream into reality,? said, Arvind, a Class V student.

Kajal Kumari, another Class V student, said: ?I want to become a police officer and nab criminals so that peace reigns in the society,? she said.

While Chotu Nayak, a student of Class IV, is interested in music, Sobha Kumari, his junior by a year, wants to become a dancer.

The teachers, like the children, are an enthusiastic and dedicated lot. ?We are thankful to Geetadidi, Sanokadidi and Mayadidi who for their efforts to teach the children of this village,? said Raju Munda, a resident of the village. However, it is not always smooth sailing for the teachers as they have to face several problems while taking classes under the two trees.

?A few days ago we noticed four snakes near a group of students who were sitting on a mat. Though the snakes were not poisonous, the students were naturally scared. We drove the snakes away with the help of some villagers,? said Sanoka, a teacher.

Besides, the students also face a threat from the trees. ?The students had a narrow escape a few days ago when a branch of the banyan tree fell near them,? said another villager.

The school recently drew the attention of education officials. A team visited the village on a recce but could not was not quite successful in its mission.

?Some people had informed me about the school. So, I visited Hesal and asked the villagers to provide a plot of land to set up a building for the school. However, no one seemed to be willing to spare their land,? said district superintendent of education Pradeep Choubey.