Indian school kids forced to cross a river using boats made from oil drums in world’s worst school run
Scores of worried parents have withdrawn their kids from school rather than forcing them to risk their lives each day
DOZENS of primary school pupils in India were forced to cross a treacherous river on a makeshift boat when the government refused to finish off a long-awaited bridge to their school.
Kids as young as seven in Tungni, India, have spent years riding a rickety boat made of two plastic drums and pieces of wood to get to and from school each day.
Scores of worried parents have withdrawn their kids from school rather than forcing them to risk their lives each day.
The lack of a bridge means hundreds of villagers – including school kids and OAPs – have to perch on the barrel to cross the 35 metre and Lakhunder river.
Village chief Deep Singh said: “Many children had fallen into the river using this boat.
“They were rescued by the locals but had those incidents taken place during the monsoon season, they would have died.
“The river flows at a slow pace but during rainy season, it is very scary to cross the river as water flows at a very fast pace.”
Shocking pictures show brave students patiently waiting on the river bank for their turns to cross the river.
Young girls can be seen pulling the boat and using it to cross over to the other side.
Singh added: “Several children in the village quit their studies due to this reason.
“During monsoon season most of the parents, concerned about the safety of their children, do not send them to school.”
Though a concrete bridge is being constructed on the river, villagers claim the work is going at a snail’s pace.
One said: “Years have passed since the construction of the bridge was started but the construction work is going at a slow pace.
“We demand the bridge to be constructed before the next monsoon season.
“The absence of bridge is not only risking the lives of people but also stops the overall development of the village.”
Meenakshi Singh, a senior official in the district collector’s office, said: “We have already directed the concerned departments and the contractors for the early completion of the bridge so that the people of this village would not have to suffer any more.”
Last year it was revealed that kids in China’s Guizhou Province have to brave a 50cm-wide cliffside footpath EVERY day to get to their elementary school, which is halfway up Bijie mountain.
And pupils at a school in Pintu Gabang, Indonesia, have to tightrope walk 30ft above a fast-flowing river and battle through seven miles of forest to get an education.
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