Ludhiana: 16 students ace national merit exam; infrastructure woes persist

A total of 16 students from the Government Senior Secondary School in Basti Jodhewal were among the 229 who cleared the National Means Cum-Merit Scholarship Exam (NMMS) from the district. The results of the exam were declared on Tuesday.

A faculty member said that the students who qualified the examination would get a scholarship of ₹12,000 annually for four years, from classes 9 to 12.

However, staff members and students say that infrastructure woes continue at the school.

School authorities claim that the withdrawal of grants by the education department has halted the construction work of four rooms at the school. The work was started in January and slated for completion on July 1.

They said that as the work has been stopped, the material is lying on the premises and causing difficulties for the students and staff members.

School in-charge Yash Pal said, “We have 19 rooms available in the building and want to enrol as many students as possible. However, infrastructure constraints restrict us from doing so.”

He claimed that the quality of education was never compromised in the school.

District education officer (DEO secondary) Harjinder Singh said, “The material required for construction cannot be kept outside the premises. However, if it is causing inconvenience to the staff and students, I will get it checked and arranged.”

He added that the grants withdrawn earlier were about to be released again.

Additionally, eight rooms for the primary wing are being constructed by the public works department (PWD) and the staff alleged that the construction material was lying all over in school premises.

School authorities said that 2,492 students have enrolled in the school for this academic session. “Our school already runs in double shifts with each class having nearly 80 students due to lack of rooms. Delay in construction is causing trouble, especially in this hot and humid weather,” a staff member said. The school does not have a campus manager or a guard and the sweeper employed has not been paid for months by the government, another staff member said.