NEGLECTED: Campus of a school in Musheerabad where different schools offering education under one roof. — Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

HYDERABAD: Five schools on the same premises, common building for three schools and parallel mediums of instruction in four.

Government Girls' High School, Government Girls' Primary School, Government High School, Zamistanpur, Government Upper Primary School and Government Primary School Bolakpur are all located on the same premises in Musheerabad.

The prospect of so many schools in a single location does not unduly depress the children here: after all, more schools mean more schoolmates. Playing with each other offsets having to share buildings, classrooms and a single tap.

Separate mediums

Classes are taken in two mediums of instruction, Telugu and Urdu in four of these schools. "Separate classrooms are required for children in different mediums in all four schools, naturally it is difficult to manage," says a headmaster of a school here. As a consequence, three schools share buildings.

We don't have any benches; we sit on the floor and study, says Jyothi, a student of Upper Primary School. We share classrooms with Government High School and Government Upper Primary School, she adds.

None of these schools has a toilet and drinking water is scarce. A tap was only recently put up, says a teacher who does not wish to be named. "It would be ideal if we had a tank where water can be stored to cater to all the children," he says.

Untidy surroundings

Rice, plastic bags, banana peels lie untended in the open space adjoining the five schools where the children play. To add to the putrid effect, is the garbage dump behind the school premises, which is often set on fire. With no proper windows to shield the children from the smoke that settles in the classrooms upstairs, they find it very hard to concentrate, says a teacher here.

While a few classrooms do have fans, we have no tube-lights, says Nazia, a student of Government High School, Zamistanpur. While Government Upper Primary School was the first school to be built here, the other schools moved in later, because they lacked adequate accommodation in their original location. The other schools should be moved out of this place and relocated in a place where there are no schools, says a teacher.

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