“The tiny school complex, constructed in the 1950’s, has now made way for a multi-storeyed building with top-of-the-line infrastructure – With timely help, funding and execution by Safepack Industries Limited.”

Shiroli: Little did the villagers know that a roof collapse incident at the crumbling Zilla Parishad Primary School at Shiroli in 2018 would lead to a massive change in the educational infrastructure in the village. The tiny school complex, constructed in the 1950’s, has now made way for a multi-storeyed building with top-of-the-line infrastructure – thanks to timely help, funding and execution by Safepack Industries Limited.

The eroding walls have been replaced by new colorful ones; while the once leaking roof now holds fans and other electrical fittings. According to the villagers and teachers, the new building has created a positive learning environment in the school, thus attracting more students.

According to Managing Director of Safepack, Mr Rajendra Tapadia, it was only when one of their workers reported injury to his ward due to a roof collapse at the school, that they visited the school. “When we paid a visit, we saw that the school building was in shambles. Many of our workers’ children were studying at the school and we decided to rebuild it. Over 2 years since the incident, we are lucky to have been able to rebuild the school with a larger capacity,” he explained.

According to school principal, Mr Kamble, the school now boasts of double the classrooms and is pouring in with new admissions. “The new building has also helped improve the student – teacher relationship thus fostering a better learning environment. We were cultivating scholars who achieve excellence and the new infrastructure has definitely multiplied these scholar students.” He said

Gushing about the new facility, a teacher at the school, Mrs Kalpana said that her students now has access to better classrooms, drinking water, fans and most importantly a safe building. “When I first joined this school in 2013, it was in shambles. The verandah would get flooded and the roof would leak during the rains. The condition was so bad that a beam in my classroom was also moving. It was heart-wrenching to make students sit in such conditions,” she said.

According to Mrs Pavale, the improvements in the school infrastructure has directly impacted learning. She stated that more students are now attracted to attending school while more parents want to send their children to school. “Students are whole-heartedly attending classes and are also excelling in studies. The intellectual levels of the school students is also increasing like the height of the school complex has. The new building is an invaluable contribution to the growth and development of these children,” she added.

Another teacher Anita Vaishnav said that students from English Medium Schools are also getting attracted to the ZP school. “This building will help fulfil a lot of wishes and expectations in the future. The excellence levels alongside physical and mental health of the students have also improved since the new building was constructed,” she said.

The deputy Sarpanch of Shiroli Grampanchayat, Jayatai Daigude said “We are grateful to the company, its management and staff for the new school building.”