The students of Dakhin Bashbaria Government Primary School are attending classes in the open every day because the school building is in a decrepit state.

The school in No. 6 Bashbaria union parishad of Dashmina upazila in Patuakhali district was established in 1993. A tin-shed building was constructed with the help of the local people and a small government fund. Already, the school building is falling apart. But, there is no sign of repairs, said the teachers.

Acting head teacher Md Hellal Uddin said the authorities declared two years ago that the school building had to be abandoned. According to him, the building is in such a state because the school is not in the upazila-level improvement or construction list. Different parts of the building have developed cracks.

Some of the classes are being held in a Fisheries Association building next door. On Tuesday, this correspondent visited the school and found that classes were being held in the open.

Md Hellal Uddin told The Independent that there was no place to even store the official papers of the school. The roof of the school building is in such a poor condition that rainwater pours in through it.

Locals pointed out that the school is right in front of the house of the present chairman, but he has done nothing to repair the building. Even the roads of the school campus are in a shambles. Md Zahid Uddin, the acting Dashmina Upazila Education Officer, admitted that the school building was risky. “I have informed the higher-ups about it,” he said.