A night school located in Dhantoli is fighting for its survival as society seems to have forgotten about its existence. It is Saraswati Night High School, located beside Bengali School, on Humyard Road, and is one of the working night schools in city. The school's building tells a different story, telling a story of society’s neglect as the institution caters to need of working class youth who could not find time to complete their regular studies. Hence to make-up for lost time, students attend the night school after completing chores that help keep their house running.

 

The institution operates with administrative and educational support from Masoom Education, a non-profit organisation specialising in night school transformation programme in Maharashtra. During a visit on the spot by ‘The Hitavada’, the school premises was found choked with weeds, garbage, felled tree branches, broken barricades and not to forget even dust bins put-up by NMC's Dhantoli Zone whose office lies adjacent. The double-storey red-brick structure, established in 1970 for daily-wage workers, rickshaw-pullers and dropouts, has shattered windows, peeled plaster, moss-covered walls and plants growing out of the roof.

 

This is happening just a few metres from the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s Dhantoli Zonal Office. While the zonal office and police station function daily, the school sharing the same compound wall is in neglect. Toilet blocks are broken, doors are missing, roofs have collapsed, and the ground is used to park vehicles and store pipes. Only 3 night schools left, at one point of time city had over a dozen functioning night schools. Now only three are showing HSC results. As per board data, Tajbaba Night School, Mominpura topped with 86 per cent, followed by Shri Shivaji Night School with 70 per cent and Nagpur Night High School, Sadar with 37 per cent. The Sitabuldi school is among the last few still functional in Central Nagpur with 8 to 10 students presently enrolled.

 

Locals said most night schools have closed due to falling enrollment. In the last two years, NMC shut nine schools for the same reason. As per RTI, 35 NMC school buildings have been diverted for other purposes. Night schools were the city's promise to the working class. Those who work in the day could study at night. "If a working night school in the heart of Sitabuldi, next to the NMC office and police station, is in such condition, what will be the future of education for labourers?" asked a local resident. Local have demanded that NMC should immediately clear the garbage and repair the broken toilet, and repair the building before this night education school also shuts down.