School in Cattle-Shed

Information Center of Kakheti

Public school with 900 pupils in Lambalo village in Sagarejo district has been functioning in the sheds hired from a local inhabitant. The lessons are held in the rooms which were used as cattle-shed in the past.

The school building is damaged and specialists said it cannot be rehabilitated. Kakheti regional newspaper “Specter” has already published an article about the problem. According to the newspaper, the school director Arabal Kheirbakhalov said the pupils and teachers might get various diseases, among them tuberculosis, because of poor sanitary conditions in the building.

“At the Ministry of Education they even hang up the plan of our school building. They promise us every day to resolve our problem but they are deceiving us. I state with full responsibility that our children might get ill with tuberculosis and nobody worries about it. We have petitioned even to the president. In 2009 we were in the program but something happened and they removed us from the list. They say the funds are not enough and nobody clarifies the situation,” said the school director in his interview with the newspaper.

Rain is leaking through the roof and it dampens walls and floor. The “classrooms” are dirty. Several rooms do not have floor at all; the blackboards are not in every classroom. Children and pupils use cardboards and walls to write on. The distance between blackboard and desks is no longer than 1 meter; in some classrooms the distance is even shorter. The ceiling is so low that in several rooms teachers cannot straighten up.

There are two-shifts in the school. The lessons start at 9:00 am and lasts till 7:00 pm.

Kazlari village primary school boarders with Lambalo School. The classrooms are moist there too. In one room there was a puddle on floor. The owner of the school building Sardar Aliev, in a rainy weather it is raining in the building too. “The roof shall be repaired but nobody does it; though it does not require much funds,” said Sardar Aliev.

School director Arabal Kheirkhabalov said they plan to repair the roof of Kazlari School immediately after the school-year finishes. “As soon as school year finishes, we will repair it. The school has allocated its own money to repair the roof.”

Sagarejo district governor Gia Chalatashvili said they do not intend to build a school in Kazlari but in Lambalo they will start construction of a new school in 2012.

“Since the Kazlari School subordinates to the Lambalo School, the children shall go to Lambalo School. So, we are not going to build a new school in Kazlar. As for Lambalo School, the old one is so damaged that specialists said it is impossible to repair it. The Ministry of Education was informed about the problem long time ago. They even have project of a new school building. Last year, the Ministry even presented the project but I do not know when they plan to start construction activities. They promise the school will be built for sure and supposedly, it will start next year,” said Gia Chalatashvili.

Information Center of Kakheti called the Ministry of Education and Science several times but could not get information about the Lambalo public school.