Jaipur: The state education department has ordered a fresh statewide inspection of elementary schools, focusing on unsafe buildings, basic amenities and teacher availability, with primary elementary education officers (PEEOs) and urban cluster elementary education officers (UCEEOs) directed to submit infrastructure updates and proposals for redeployment of surplus teachers by Aug 27.This is the third such inspection of school infrastructure ordered in the past year. Primary elementary education officers and urban cluster elementary education officers have been asked to inspect the condition of school buildings and dilapidated structures, besides facilities such as drinking water, toilets, cleanliness and electricity connections.“During school inspections, officials shall examine building safety, arrangements for clean drinking water, the mid-day meal room, classrooms, toilets, and roof cleanliness or drainage systems. They must also ensure that arrangements are made for water drainage in the event of waterlogging within or around the school premises,” stated the official order.The officers have also been asked to physically verify basic amenities and ensure that all entries in the ‘Infrastructure Module’ on the Shala Darpan portal are updated by Aug 27.The inspection will cover schools functioning from alternative govt or private buildings because their own premises are dilapidated. Officials will also assess the availability of classrooms, drinking water and toilets in such schools.Alongside the infrastructure exercise, PEEOs and UCEEOs will identify schools with teachers more than their requirement based on student enrolment and submit proposals to redeploy them to understaffed schools.Reacting to the fresh directive, CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka questioned its implementation. “All education officers in the state were told to submit reports on dilapidated buildings on the same day. How are teachers supposed to provide information on infrastructure? They’re not engineers. And is it possible to inspect all schools in one day? Is this order just issued for formality’s sake?” he said.The renewed inspection comes amid concerns over the condition of govt school infrastructure. A statewide survey in Aug last year identified 3,768 school buildings as dilapidated, with 2,558 officially declared unsafe, as cited by school education minister Madan Dilawar in the assembly on Jan 30.The first departmental survey conducted after the Jhalawar school building collapse in Aug 2025 had identified around 85,000 school rooms requiring demolition and 2.5 lakh needing urgent major repairs. It also found 15,000 school toilets dilapidated, while another 25,000 required major repairs.
