90-year-old school in Kerala sans electricity

Kozhikode: The Parannoor West AMLP School at Narikuni, 24 km from Kozhikode, is nearly a century old. But, it doesn’t have a power connection, and there is no sign of having one in the near future, even in this age of smart classrooms.

All the 25 students of Class I to IV have to sweat it out in the summer and grope in the dark during the winter in their classrooms. Teachers too find it hard to cope with the stress.

The government took over the school, established in 1924, from its management 15 years back following a tussle.

Recently, three students brought the issue to the notice of the state’s child rights commission,which asked the Kozhikode DDE to submit a report.

“The issue was taken to all authorities concerned. But, still there’s no end to the ordeal,” headmaster T.K. Suresh Babu said.

Mohammed Abdul Khadar, the ex-principal, blamed the stubbornness of the management. “The DDE is the manager now, but the property belongs to the previous manager. His permission is needed for laying an electricity line, which he wouldn’t give,” he said.

There were 50 students in the school even a few years back, but the number started dwindling.