Nanjaraj, an assistant teacher in a high school at Somanahalli in Holenarasipur taluk, sits in front of his house with several soaked notebooks spread across the front yard. “I had brought my students’ notebooks home for evaluation. All of them are soaked. I don’t know what to do,” said the distraught teacher.
Many parts of the town were waterlogged following heavy outflow from the Hemavati reservoir.
This is not a one-off case. Many parts of Karnataka which have seen heavy rains and flooding have a similar story to tell. With the water receding, students and school and college authorities in many places are faced with a new challenge — of recovering lost academic work and documents.
Not far from Mr. Nanjaraj’s house, early on Tuesday morning, students and teachers were frantically looking for documents and books amidst slush and stagnant water at Priyadarshini Pre-University College.
“Most of the documents related to students’ admission, attendance and those related to the management are sodden,” said A.C. Somashekhar, principal of the college. They will have to reconstruct the documents using whatever material recovered.
Keerthi, a student, was looking for notebooks she had left in the classroom. “I don’t think I can read these handwritten notes even after the paper dries,” she lamented.
In Kodagu, which saw incessant rains for over 10 days, there is worry about the condition of school buildings too. While the schools that remained shut for over a week are expected to reopen on August 16, many children are still housed in relief centres with their parents. In fact, out of 45 relief centres, 36 are housed in school buildings across Kodagu.
Kodagu DDPI T.S. Machado said an order had been placed for 2,000 textbooks. The department would seek uniforms and other essential items from the government. “We are planning to conduct activities for schoolchildren in the relief camps to keep them occupied,” he added.
Some buildings that have been around for over 50 years, are in a decrepit condition since the calamity in August last year, and have been affected this year too.
Govt. to allow admission without documents
Students who are victims of the flood in the State can be admitted to any school in the State without producing any documents. This is decision has been taken as the State government wantsto ensure that students have easy access to education and no dropouts because of this natural calamity.
Many students have lost important documents such as birth certificates, SSLC marks card, Aadhaar card, among others. An official from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) said that students from over 18 districts would benefit from the move.
The department has also made preparations to gather the number of children who are enrolled in schools and how many have dropped out or likely to drop out because of the floods. “This will help us ensure that students who have migrated out of flood hit districts get admissions in the closest government schools where they are relocated,” the official said.
The department in another circular has asked department officials to conduct a survey of the school buildings after the floods recede. It has told the Karnataka Textbook Society to provide textbooks in case students lost their textbooks.
