Shillong: Gabil Boldil SSA School in the Garo Hills remains a wreck. Despite a recent cash injection, the facility is still unfit for students. The school sits 10 kilometers from Rongmil and 60 kilometers from the Williamnagar district headquarters. Access is difficult, with the final three kilometers of road becoming a slippery mess during rainstorms.
Established in 1998, the school eventually moved to the SSA pattern. It served 53 students with two teachers. Years of neglect left the building without walls, roofs, doors, or windows. Students now crowd into a small 12-by-8-foot kitchen shed because the main classrooms are unusable. Earlier this year, the education department earmarked 1.5 lakh rupees for repairs, but the project failed to fix the core issues. The money only covered a roof patch and partial wall work.
Headmaster MG Momin explained the struggle: "Earlier there was only open sky when you went into these two classrooms. We had no way to use it as whether it was sunny or rainy, the students suffered. The repair of the roof along with wooden beams to support it consumed most of the resources that were given by the department. With the rest of the money, we repaired parts of the wall and floor."
Local CSO members criticized the department for failing to assess the site before allocating funds. High material and labor costs in this remote village made the small grant insufficient. The structure still lacks doors and windows, rendering it completely ineffective. Villagers now demand at least two functional rooms to keep their children out of the elements. Until then, the kids stay cramped in the kitchen shed, while others skip school entirely to avoid the trek.
Updated at 11th August 2026 at 6:00am
While a PMGSY scheme metalled most of the road to the village, the final 2-3 kilometer stretch remains treacherous. Residents advise using only two wheelers or 4WD vehicles during the rains. The village consists of 52 households where residents rely on agriculture, plantations, and job card work to survive.
The school facility originally featured two 12-by-10-foot rooms before it fell into disrepair five years ago. Currently, the two teachers must manage 53 students across seven different classes inside the 12-by-8-foot kitchen shed. The headmaster sought assistance through multiple trips to district offices, only receiving the grant after the school's plight gained media attention.
Comments