25 metres is a distance Usain Bolt can complete in a three-second blink-and-miss dash.

25 metres is the length of road students and teachers have wanted for the past five years in a North Dinajpur village to reach their classrooms.

 

Raiganj, May 13: The teachers and students of the Sarva Shiksha Kendra in Baroibari need this road as owners of plots adjacent to the school building have allegedly refused to allow them to use their fields as a path to walk to school.

The school, about 14km from Raiganj town, is about 25 metres from the village road. Since July 2010, the three school teachers have been holding classes under a tree on an uncultivated patch.

The block development officer of Hemtabad, which is 2km from Baroibari village, said that till recently he had been unaware of the plight of the three teachers and 39 students, who are entitled to use a school building constructed with central Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan funds.

The three classrooms of the school are now storehouses of hay and farm implements, all dumped by the family of Shamsher Ali who had donated land for the school.

The Abhiyan offers funds for constructing school buildings and facilities such as toilets and kitchens. Any road, if required, has to be laid by the state as land is required. Land is a state subject.

The school was started under a tin shed in 2003 after a farmer, Shamsher Ali, donated five cottahs.

In 2009, the school got funds from the Abhiyan to construct the building, which was completed in 2010. The teachers were appointed by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

One of the farmers said that when the school was started, the residents were promised by the district authorities that educated women from Baroibari would be given jobs there.

The current headmistress, Monika Das, however, said she knew nothing about such a promise being made to villagers. Teachers for Sarva Shiksha Kendras are appointed by the state primary education board through a teachers' eligibility test.

According to Das, she came to school one day in July 2010 to find the building ringed by a bamboo fence.

"I have been the headmistress of this primary school since it was established in 2003. In 2010 the building was completed on land donated by a villager. There were about 150 boys and girls then," Das said.

"I remember that in July 2010, I arrived and found the building encircled by a bamboo fence. I was told by family members of the land donor that the building could no longer be used, and we should not approach it. My requests to let us sit in the rooms fell on deaf ears," she said.

"The owners of plots around the school building said they would not allow the children or us to use their land as a road to reach the school. We have requested the villagers to address the problem several times. There were promises made but matters did not improve. We now have only 39 students," Das said.

"I have written to the Sarva Shiksha Mission (the state arm of the Abhiyan). I have also written to the zilla parishad sabhadhipati about how we are suffering. But there has been no response," the headmistress said.

Idris Ali, a farmer who owns land between the village road and the school building, said he had had problems about the school being run from there.

"When Shamser Ali donated the land, the administration promised that the teachers would be appointed from among educated women in the village. That was not done. All three teachers are from Hemtabad. If our aspirations are not met, why should we allow those who use the school to trespass over my land to get to the school?" he said.

Two other farmers also have land adjacent to the school, but they were unavailable to give their version as they had left for work elsewhere.

Shamser Ali, the land donor, passed away in 2007.

His son, Jainal Abedin, put the blame on other farmers, but admitted that his family had stored farm implements in the classrooms.

"We have no objection to the school running here, but other residents have objected. They do not want the students or teachers to use their land to reach the building. We store hay and farm implements so that the rooms are not taken over by anti-socials," Jainal said.

The present North Dinajpur district coordinator of the Sarva Shiksha Mission, Khitish Sarkar, said he had not heard that the school was having any problems. "I keep track of each and every school and I have not received any report that any of them is facing problems."

When told that students and teachers have been compelled to sit under a banyan tree in all seasons to study, Sarkar said: "It is possible that classes are being held in the open because of the hot summer."

The field where the kids gather for classes is five metres from the village road. The land, though owned by a villager, is not cultivated.

Das said because of the lack of classrooms, families that could afford a rickshaw van fare had enrolled their kids in another school 2km away.

Pema Sherpa, the block development officer of Hemtabad, said he would ensure that the school building is used for classes.

"I got to know about this recently. I have sent land department officials to the spot. They will ensure that a proper path to the school is demarcated through the land. If that cannot be done, I will try to find a solution through an all-party meeting. I have also ordered the stored items in the classrooms to be seized. The school building will soon be used once again," Sherpa said.

Asma Khatun, a Class IV student of the school, narrated what she and the others went through daily. "We are forced to sit outside. It is tough. Either it is hot, or it rains or it is the chill of winter. We want to sit inside classrooms but we cannot," she said.

Headmistress Das said that yesterday, during the quake, the children were in tears. "On Tuesday, just before we felt the quake, there was a storm. We took shelter under a tarpaulin sheet. Then the ground started shaking. There was thunder and lightning. The children were scared. So were we. Some of them were in tears. We somehow stayed under the tree till the tremors subsided and the storm passed," Das said.