Over 200 students of Hotni Government Primary School in Chandpur's Hajiganj upazila have been compelled to study under the open sky since their school collapsed on the night of October 5.
The collapse took place at a time when the school was closed on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha and Durga puja.
After the festival vacations ended, the students were doing classes inside the risky building, but later upon the decision of the school managing committee, they were doing outside the classrooms – in the open.
Our Correspondent visited the site on Sunday and found students of Class iii and iv were attending classes in the open and sweating in the blazing heat.
The building was built by the Local Government and Engineering Department in 1986 and it cracked quite a few years ago, leading to the ultimate collapse of its wall into its adjoining pond in the first week of this month.
School authorities alleged that they had notified the higher authorities about the imminent danger of the building but did not receive any response from them, leaving them with no option but take classes inside the rundown building.
Two Class iv pupils called Afroza Akhter and Mahmuda Akter said they could comfortably take classes in the morning but it felt like a hell with the sun moving over heads and then towards the east.
Headmistress Sheuli Rani Pal said: “We submitted an application to the Upazila Primary Education office about the rundown state of the school building a few months ago but have not yet got any response.” She added that she heard that her predecessor too had submitted an application to the same office.
Upazila Primary Education Officer Abdul Awal confirmed the collapse of the building and said: “We will arrange for an alternative structure for the students to study in with the help of the upazila parishad and locals as soon as we can.”