Schools in danger zones need disaster prevention help
Heavy downpours during the past few weeks have left schools with old buildings, neglected boundary walls, and those located on loose soil, urgently requiring the attention of education authorities.
This week, a fourth-grade student escaped with minor injuries when a rain-soaked wall collapsed onto the school toilet, causing heavy damage.
"We have been raising concerns regarding the curved wall with cracks and the three bent coconut trees for the past two years. The 12-foot wall didn't have a proper foundation. I personally visited the owner, a wellknown musician. The wall was reduced but not completely removed and rebuilt. The owner later decided to increase the height of the wall. Both the Grama Niladhari and I highlighted this concern, but it was ignored," said Prasantha Gamage, principal of President's Model Primary School in Gangodawila.
"The incident took place at 12.45 p.m. But if the collapse had occurred during the interval, about 30–40 students would have sustained injuries, with some even being fatal. The injured student was stuck under cement rubble," he said.
Apart from this chaos, school authorities were also compelled to remove students from a 70-year-old single-story building that is on the verge of collapse, he said.
"The Education Ministry and provincial education authorities should immediately get principals to report any damaged buildings, assess the damages, and implement prevention mechanisms. If not, more damage will be reported during the next monsoon. This should be done without delay and efficiently," said Mr. Gamage, who is also the joint secretary of the Principal Unions Alliance.
Recently, an earthslip destroyed three classrooms at Thelijjawila Central College, Matara.
Principal Jayantha Meegoda said students were spared as the incident took place at dawn.
"Principals of about 50 schools in the high-risk Haldumulla education zone were instructed to daily inspect school premises and buildings for early landslide signs and cracks in buildings this week," said Dhammika Herath, zonal education director for Bandarawela. The instruction came after areas in Badulla District were issued a red alert (immediate evacuation) due to heavy rainfall.
The Sunday Times learns that a lack of money in local authorities meant poor attention to provincial schools.
Athula Wijewardena, director of the Education Ministry's cocurricular activities branch, which handles disaster prevention, said, following recent incidents in schools, they have initiated an alert group on WatsApp, including zonal and provincial education directors, disaster management, the National Building Research Organisation, and Geological Survey and Mines Bureau officials.
He said the ministry was informed of earth slip possibilities in Mahinda College, Galle, and structural damage in Pushpadana Girl's School, Kandy.
He said this week, UNICEF allocated Rs. 1 million for each provincial education office for disaster identification and prevention in schools.