The stone walls are crumbling. The cement on the parapets is falling off in chunks. The decrepit classrooms have no fans and there is a dearth of toilets. With not enough classrooms, students have to sit in the sun. Inside classrooms, the tin roofs leak during the rains. The library is a mess, with books and notebooks strewn on the floor, while the science laboratory lies in shambles.

This is the sad state of a Delhi government school in Jafrabad — Zeenat Mahal Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya (SKV). Many more government schools in the city share the same state of infrastructure and facilities.

In order to make the decrepit school buildings look better and provide a better learning environment for government school students, the Delhi government launched a project last year — Project Roopantar— to upgrade the infrastructure and install fire safety measures in 198 government school buildings.

The schools were identified after a survey of three city districts — East, Northeast and Northwest. Zeenat Mahal SKV in Zone V was one of the 198 schools marked out for a facelift. So far, no work has started.

Out of a total of 198 identified buildings, work on only five schools has finished so far.

“My primary concern is now the safety of the children; education has become secondary here,” the principal of Zeenat Mahal SKV, Raziya Begum, said. “With the monsoon hitting Delhi, where will my children sit?” she asks, pointing towards the ceiling of the single-storey building that houses some of the classrooms, where the tin roof is missing.

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