Students at the Government Panchayat Union Primary School in Marattipalayam, a small farming village at foothills of Jawadhu Hills in Vellore, have been attending classes in a private godown after all three dilapidated school buildings were demolished in November 2025.

Residents said that since then, around 30 students, including 10 girls, were attending daily classes on the floor of the small private godown, which is located opposite the demolished school campus. “Despite good teaching, we are worried about the safety of children as the temporary accommodation does not have adequate space for students. Thick vegetation around the building also poses risk to students,” said R. Valli, a resident.

Spread over an acre of land, the decades-old school, which is maintained by the School Education Department, consisted of three school buildings that have spacious classrooms. The classrooms had wooden benches, ventilation, and lighting facilities. The campus also had separate washrooms for boys and girls, a noon meal centre, water taps, Over Head Tank (OHT), a playground, and a compound wall.

School authorities said that the dilapidated buildings were demolished after roof plastering was peeled off in one of the classrooms in November last year. As a result, all three buildings were demolished with the promise of construction of new school buildings.

The godown does not have separate toilets and water taps. “We take students to the school campus, which is located opposite the godown, where washrooms and taps are available. The District Collector should step in to provide safe and permanent buildings for students,” S. Premalatha, headmistress, told The Hindu.

As the private godown is surrounded by thick bushes, students have to brave mosquitos and insects, especially during rain, while attending classes. Many students fall sick, teachers said. 

Repeated petitions were given to the district administration to take steps for construction of school buildings. Frequent inspection of field-level educational officials also yielded no results for a permanent building, residents said.

A total of 812 dilapidated school buildings were identified in Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet, and Tirupattur for demolition. The drive was taken in the wake of the death of three students after the collapse of a toilet wall in a government-aided school in Tirunelveli on December 17, 2021. “Steps will be taken to build new classrooms for the government school. The District Collector will be apprised about the plight of students in the school,” said an official of School Education Department.