Inspect all private, government school buildings in Tamil Nadu, demands OPS

A day after the ill-fated wall collapse incident in Tirunelveli school, former Chief Minister and AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam on Saturday demanded the State government to inspect and review all the private and government school buildings in Tamil Nadu.

In a statement, the AIADMK leader said he was sad to hear the back-to-back deaths related to students after a wall in a private school at Tirunelveli collapsed on them.

The AIADMK leader blamed both the private school administration and the school education department for the accident.

"The School Education Department, which is vested with the power of inspecting, and certifying the schools had failed to inspect the safety of students. It is the duty and the responsibility of the State government to ensure that the private and government school buildings are safe for the students," he said. OPS also expressed condolences and wished a speedy recovery for the injured students. He also urged the Chief Minister to enhance the solatium given for the victims of three families who lost their children and urged Stalin to give special attention to matters related to schools.

OPS also demanded additional allocation of funds to repair and improve the infrastructure for government schools that were kept closed during the covid lockdown period.