A damaged classroom of University High School in Berhampur. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Oct. 24: The headmistress of University Upgraded Middle English on Bhanja Vihar campus was sitting outside her office with a heap of books kept on the floor in the sun to dry.

The books were soaked in rainwater at the office room after Phailin had blown off a portion of its roof.

The sun and the sky could be seen from all the classrooms as the roofs of these houses had been blown off. Headmistress Nirupama Agrawal said the school had been totally damaged.

“I gave a preliminary report about the damage to the officials concerned. It is difficult for students to study in roofless rooms with cracked walls. We will have to look for other options if the authorities want the schools to run,” said Nirupama.

Students in Ganjam have been affected badly by Phailin that has ravaged almost all educational institutions partially or fully and destroyed study materials.

“All my books and study materials have been destroyed in the cyclone as our asbestos roof was blown away. I had to take shelter in a house at Chhatrapur. When I returned the next day, I found everything in my house, including my books, were gone,” said S. Sathish Kumar, a Class IX student of Padaumpeta.

The government machinery in a bid to revive the education system has started restoration on war footing. The teachers have been asked to make arrangements for restoring the right atmosphere for study, while the authorities have extended holidays for students. In view of the large-scale damages, the district administration instructed the school authorities to resume classes after October 28. Similarly, the higher education department has announced that all the colleges in the district would remain closed till November 3.

Many schools have been entirely destroyed in the cyclone with their asbestos roofs blown off by the gusty wind, which blew more than 200km per hour speed.

“Though the schools were to open on October 21 after Puja vacation, we have extended the holidays. We have instructed the teaching and non-teaching employees to carry out the restoration process,” said district education officer of Ganjam Santosh Patra.

Patra said the authorities had decided to carry out teaching activities in the schools that had been partially damaged after repair works by October 28. But, there would be no classes held on premises of the fully damaged schools. “We have instructed the school authorities to arrange morning classes for upper primary and primary students of the fully affected schools in the high schools located nearby. This makeshift arrangement will continue till the buildings are constructed,” he said.

The cyclone has damaged 328 high schools, 936 primary school and 454 upper primary schools in the district. The authorities said the amount of loss would be around Rs 116 crore, according to the preliminary assessment. It has also started dispatching textbooks to the schools, where the books have been damaged.

Similarly, a higher education department official said that almost all the colleges had been affected by the cyclone in the district.