Longrangty Longchar
Watiyim | August 12
From a distance the dilapidated house looks more like a cowshed. However don’t be mistaken, it is the Tsurangkong Government High School established in the year 1977 and which had students securing first divisions in the HSLC exams from last year. And this government school has no proper walls and other facilities. The students have to sit in small rundown classrooms with gaping big holes. The bamboo walls are coming out. The back wall of the class X and class IX class-rooms can be simply termed as railings – the better half of the wall is simply some poles nailed to the beams. What more – the class rooms have no fans. Watiyim village lies near the Assam Nagaland border and being on the foothills, temperature in summer touch even up to 37-38 degrees; the humid air makes the days even more miserable for the students and staff in mid-summer seasons.
“When it is hot (here), it is really, really hot,” said I.Temjennaro the headmistress of the school, who showed some journalists around the school. She disclosed that the school has been making minor repairs from time to time, however to no use. The new school building – an RCC building – is coming up just behind the dilapidated present school; however the construction which commenced in the year 2007 remains to be completed. Lamenting the slow pace of progress of the new school building, Temjennaro disclosed that even the school students started picketing for early completion of the new school building. “When people are going for quality education, how can we give quality education in this condition,” the headmistress lamented.
Her office is also quite pathetic – it is far from the government high school head-teacher offices that one finds in towns. The about twelve-square-feet office has two steel cabinet, the bottoms of which are rusted. Two wall charts adorns the office, five blue plastic chairs, a steel desk and a reading armchair (that have seen better days). The mud floor of the office has streaks of fresh green moulds, a fan furiously whirls overhead; she says the fan was put up with her own money. The other fan in the teacher’s room adjacent to the headmistress’ room was put up by the teachers themselves. The fan in the Assistant Headmistress room has become defunct, and so she does not sit there due to the heat.
The students when asked how they are feeling simply said “hot”. They were sitting in fours and fives on worn-out benches behind desks. The temperature, the headmistress said, was 34 degree Celsius. “Sometimes we are compelled to cancel the classes, especially the last period when the temperature becomes very hot,” the headmistress disclosed. The teacher’s room had a thermometer, she informed. “Sometimes, the students even request us to allow them to wear sandals and ‘chappals’ since it is very hot to wear socks and shoes,” she said.
And it’s not only the heat; the headmistress disclosed that when it rains, it literally pours in the school; the roof starts leaking. As far as the headmistress words are concerned the problem is two sided – unbearably hot during sunny days and literally soaking during rainy days. However, she disclosed that despite the problems, the students are very hardworking and sincere and bring good results to the school. She said that for the first time in the history of the school, one student secured first division in the HSLC exams, while three of them secured the first division this year.
Interestingly, senior most teacher I.Niken Imchen disclosed that the present dilapidated school building was built by different villages after donating Rs 2000 each from their respective RD fund. “This is not government building, since it was built by the villagers,” he explained.
The Mokokchung DEO, Y Lanutemjen who also visited the school after attending a programme in Watiyim village, expressed deep dismay over the slow pace of work at the construction site of the new school. While reprimanding the idling workers at the site, Y Lanutemjen said that the issue of the Tsurangkong Government High School was discussed at the recent LADP meeting in Mokokchung which was attended by Home Minister Imkong L Imchen and the MLAs from Mokokchung. He told the workers that the construction should be completed immediately.
Tsurangkong Government High School is the only high school in Tsurangkong range in Mokokchung. This school caters to not only the sixteen Ao villages but also to eight neighboring Sumi villages. The school runs classes 6-to-10 and has 150 students and ten teachers. I Niken Imchen disclosed that the school desperately needs three more arts teacher, a PT instructor and a knitting instructor in the school.
