Students willing to study after Class X but schools missing in resettlement colonies in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Sugrita is eagerly waiting for her Class X results and is determined to continue her education. But this means the girl, originally from a slum near Pragati Maidan, has no option but to look for a school in some other village or make the long journey to government schools in Peeragarhi or Nangloi. The resettlement colony at Sawda Ghevra, which has a population of over 40,000, does not have a single senior secondary school.

But for many at this colony on the fringes of rural northwest Delhi, the road to school meets a dead end after Class X. With parents reluctant to send girls out of the resettlement owing to safety concerns, their dream of education generally dies a silent death.

A drive into the colony leads you to three red buildings — standing out amid rows of single-room , barebrick huts. They were conceived as model schools by the Delhi government. However, what one finds on the ground is nothing close to a “model” experience.

There are two schools in Blocks B and H that are in the process of being upgraded from middle schools to secondary ones. During this session , they will have classes up to IX. It was only last year that a school in Block A was upgraded to the secondary level. It has about 150 students in Class X.

But they are a worried lot as teachers are unable to cover all the subjects every day due to severe staff shortage and the students are forced to either go to private tutors or just study on their own. And still, there is no senior secondary school in the colony.

Class X student Jannat, who came to the resettlement from a slum in Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi with her labourer parents, has already been told that she will not be allowed to go outside the colony to continue her studies because of safety issues.

For many like Mohan, the absence of a senior secondary school means the beginning of another struggle. A Class X student who is popular among other children for his creative writing abilities and his skills at churning out detective stories , Mohan shifted here from Laxmi Nagar in 2006.

There was no school where he could get himself enrolled immediately. He and many other boys travelled every day for over two hours to their school in Gandhi Nagar so that they did not miss out on even a semester. Mohan is now a student of the Block A school and the new struggle revolves around overworked teachers and overcrowded classrooms. Like other boys and girls, Mohan also dreams of studying up to Class XII in a school in the resettlement.

Education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said the local school would be upgraded to the senior secondary level during this session itself. “I have issued directives to take necessary actions,” he said.

But like Sugrita, Mohan is also sure that even if the school fails to come up by next year, he will search for a school outside.