Shillong: The Upper Rongbu Government LP School is failing. Completed in November 2023, the facility is already breaking apart. The verandah floor is destroyed. Termites have eaten three of the seven plywood doors, and another has fallen off its hinges. Window glass is cracked.
The school sits in the village of Rongbu, eight kilometers from Kharkutta in the North Garo Hills. NPP legislator Rupert Momin recommended the project. It cost over Rs 44 million for seven rooms. The rooms are tiny. Each measures just 12 by 12 feet. Over 110 students now squeeze into this space. Only two teachers remain after one transfer.
An anonymous activist inspected the site and blasted the build quality. The contractor prioritized profit over students. The activist stated, "The construction is extremely poor and shows. In just two years, how can such extensive damage to a government property – that too a school – just go unnoticed? I find the entire thing appalling, and this seriously needs to be investigated and addressed."
District education officials claim they are powerless. They do not monitor these projects. They do not even know the contractors involved. All oversight happens in the state capital.
The adjacent Rongbu SSA UP School faces its own crisis. It has only three rooms. Teachers use a dilapidated, roofless LP section to hold classes when it is not raining. A teacher noted, "If it rains, there is nowhere we can go but seek shelter in the main school compound." One room serves as a staff storage area, further tightening space for students. Local families remain trapped with few options.
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