08 August,2025 07:54 AM IST | Mumbai | Aditi Alurkar
The mud road leading to the school building Pics/By Special Arrangement
Nearly a year ago in April 2024, Govandi residents were elated to know that M East ward's first ever public CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) school would finally see the light of day. Over 400 students were enrolled, nearly 700 waitlisted, some were even pulled out of their existing private schools to gain the golden chance of learning at the Mumbai Public School CBSE - Natwar Parekh Compound. However, the school never got its designated building near Natwarlal Parekh Compound in time for the 2024-25 academic year. One year on, in 2025-26, the building has been erected but it still remains off limits to nearly 600 CBSE students - all because of a road.
The new school building project was being overseen by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). While the authorities have finally constructed the building, they have left out the road. What was supposed to be the school's main gate lies surrounded by heaps of garbage and a long stretch of dirt road with studded with potholes. The other, smaller gate opens next to a MHADA residency and has been shut for now.
Considering that the dirt road can be hazardous for students, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) - the public authority administering the school - has not yet given the building a green flag. "As discussed in prior meetings, we need at least 9-metre-wide roads where fire-engines, ambulances and other emergency vehicles can move with ease in case of emergencies. While the school has a smaller back gate which can be accessible for students who live in MHADA, we still cannot declare the school fit for students. In case there's a fire or a medical emergency, a proper road needs to be in place," said a BMC officer from the M East ward. The school compound walls that are adjoining MHADA buildings and a creek also remain very low, according to some parents.
With no way to the building in sight, the school, the students, and parents have begun to make do with what they have. Currently, nearly 600 students and staff members of the Mumbai Public School CBSE - NPC are being accommodated at the Shivajinagar BMC School Group I. The pre-primary (nursery to senior kindergarten) and primary students (Std I - Std VII) come in at different timings and attend school in the seven borrowed classrooms in the Urdu-medium school section. If the school doesn't get their building before the next academic year, the students who graduate to Std VIII will also be a part of the mix.
To date, the teachers manage lectures in hallways, makeshift rooms, and bifurcated classes, while the new building remains idle with 30 fresh classrooms. "We are keen to move to the new building as soon as it gets the approvals. However, this has not dulled down our vigour at all. We give the students our best, conduct all necessary activities, and even had a vibrant annual day in the Shivajinagar school compound this January," said a senior staff member of the school. Despite having no building, the CBSE school has a 100 per cent pass rate, a few child authors, and even Olympiad medalists.
Seeing their children make progress, the parents continue to send them to the CBSE school while forming an active PTA (Parent Teacher Association). "We are frustrated while waiting for the new school building as the temporary building has a severe space crunch. When I go in to pick my children up, I see classes being held in hallways and even three students sitting on a single bench," said a parent who enrolled his two sons at the CBSE school.
Speaking with mid-day, Badshah Shaikh, head of the PTA, said, "We continue to send our children here because the teachers are excellent. However, month after month we await the new school building, but something as basic as a road is robbing our children of better facilities."
Despite several appeals from school officials and parents, the new CBSE school building near Govandi's Natwar Parekh Compound remains surrounded by garbage and debris, with no flat roads or proper vehicle access. "That's how things have always been in Govandi - the benches are broken, the schools are stuffy, and there's no cleanliness. After such a long wait, when the area finally got a state-of-the-art building for the central board school, the road remains undone. From the looks of it, we still have a long wait ahead of us," said Sajid Khan, the AAP joint secretary, who resides in the area. mid-day reached out to the MMRDA for a comment on the progress of the new building but received no response.
700
No. of students waitlisted to join school last year
