Government School in cook’s home!

metro india news  I MAHABUBABAD

While the state government promises to improve public education—starting classes from nursery to intermediate, providing good snacks, and giving milk three days a week and ragi java on the other three—one government school in Mahabubabad district remains stuck in a 25-year-old struggle.

The Brahmangari Thanda Government Primary School in Kesamudram has been running out of the home of the midday meal cook for the past 25 years. The school was established under the DPEP scheme, but it still lacks a proper building. The cook manages both teaching and preparing midday meals, holding classes for 15 students under a veranda, with a curtain as a makeshift classroom. Two teachers are officially assigned, but infrastructure challenges have limited proper education.

Under previous government initiatives, over Rs 40 lakh were allocated through the Mana Ooru, Mana Badi program to construct a two-room building. Additionally, instructions were issued under the rural employment guarantee scheme to build a compound wall and a kitchen shed. The revenue department allotted four guntas of land in the BC Colony of Brahmangari Thanda to the education department. A contractor began constructing the school with a veranda and two rooms, 

but after laying pillars and preparing to pour the slab, a change in government during elections led to unpaid bills, forcing the contractor to halt work. Consequently, the school building remains incomplete, and two guntas of the allotted land were encroached upon.

Currently, 15 students are studying in English medium, and while two teachers are officially posted, the midday meal cook, Vinoda, continues to teach the children from her home veranda under a curtain. During a recent visit to Kesamudram, state CM advisor and former MLA Vem Narender Reddy was confronted by students and teachers about the school’s conditions.

Despite repeated assurances from the government to discourage private schooling and improve government schools, this long-standing neglect has left the school in a precarious state. Residents and school staff are now urging the government and district authorities to take immediate action—demarcate the allotted land, complete the unfinished building, and ensure that students can continue their education without disruption.