Unsafe BMC school in Colaba wins major award
The education officer told HT, the award committee had inspected the school in October 2024, when one of its two buildings was classified in the C2-A category, indicating a need for major repairs, and partial or full evacuation. In June 2025, the second building was classified in a similar category.
HT had reported about the evacuation of students from the school given the buildings' precarious state on August 5. Ironically, despite the scheme's rules, the school qualified for the award.
The institution was given a month to shape up by taking care of all the repairs and its academic performances, when the competition was announced in July 2024. Subsequently, between August 5 and September 4, 2024, official inspections were done and a shortlist of schools was made in October of that year. Speaking up in defence of the award, a parent said: 'The school has its own kitchen garden, waste management systems, and other facilities, which helped it win the competition. But now, we have to leave the premises.'
Education activists however critiqued the process, pointing out that 33 of the 150 marks in the scheme's scoring system are pinned on a school's infrastructure. The school has two buildings -- one classified as C1 (most dangerous) and the other in C2-A category.
Shivnath Darade, representative of the teachers' union Shikshak Parishad, said, 'It is curious that the committee visited the school in October, and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared one of the buildings unsafe in November. As infrastructure alone carries 33 marks, a school with such a rating should not have topped the list.'
The confusion over the school's status began in April 2025 when the principal, who is also responsible for building's maintenance, wrote to the School Infrastructure Committee (SIC) to ask if students could continue using the C2-A building. On May 1, the repairs officer confirmed that students could remain there, based on which offline classes resumed in June.
But at the end of June, the BMC's building department issued fresh orders to vacate both buildings, declaring them dilapidated. This sudden move left the English-medium section without physical classrooms from July 15.
Pointing out the school's importance, Darade said, 'This is one of the biggest BMC schools in the vicinity, just by the sheer number of students – over 5000 -- who study here, across Marathi, Hindi, English, Kannada, and Urdu mediums.'
When asked about the contradiction between the building's unsafe status and the award, an education department official clarified, 'Infrastructure marks are not for the building itself, but also for facilities such as computers, smart boards, benches and washrooms. The award is not invalid because of the building's classification.'
In all, six BMC schools were selected in the second phase of the competition. Apart from the Colaba school, other winners were the Madh Marathi School, Vinoba Bhave Urdu Medium School, New Byculla Municipal English Medium Upper Primary School, Tilak Nagar Public School, and Govandi Station Municipal School.
While the prize money is traditionally used to improve a school's infrastructure, the school's management committee, which includes the principal, teachers, parents and students, has the authority to decide how it will be utilised.
Classification of marks
· Basic Infrastructure - 33
· Implementation of the government schemes, policies - 74
· Quality of education -- 43
· Total - 150
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