Old hall in ruins; promise for new

Gurubhavan to godown: Building for teachers of Kolar district in shambles

Ironically, however, one of the worst victims of great promises but poor treatment is the Teachers’ Hall, the Gurubhavan.

The decade-and-a-half old building has already been converted into a godown by the Department for Education.

Instead of utilizing the Hall for the necessities of teachers, the Department is stacking up things like bicycles to be distributed freely to students in the building.

Old hall

The Hall is situated in a corner of the campus of the Government Boys’ College in the City.

It was constructed under the joint sponsorship of the district high school head teachers and the principal of the Composite Pre-university College and inaugurated on October 17, 1996 by the then Education Minister H G Govindegowda.

In bad hands

The big room in the basement of the building is filled with bicycle material. The ground floor has two rooms, but the panes of the windows of both rooms have vanished. The rooms and the toilet too are in bad condition.

Therefore, the Hall has become unusable.

Except for illegal activities, unfortunately. Miscreants make use of the dilapidated and abandoned building for any kind of unlawful activities freely.

Vulgar writings and drawings cover the walls of the ground floor rooms, making sure students do not wish to come anywhere near the Teachers’ Hall.

Why another?

Speaking on the situation, a lecturer at the Government Girls’ Pre-university College said it would be a waste of resources to build a new hall. “Before thinking of a new construction, teachers should see how to utilise what is already there. The Hall could have been used for any kind of functions, meetings or programmes of the teachers,” said the lecturer.

A teacher of a high school in the city agreed. “We had organised several training sessions in the Teachers’ Hall itself. But the Department of Education is guilty of letting the building go waste instead of maintaining it.”

Another teacher said many people had even forgotten the existence of a Teachers’ Hall in the city. “We hope the Department will wake up at least now and restore the Hall,” said the teacher.