Jaipur, Oct. 26 -- Around 155 schools - of the 5,667 dilapidated schools identified by the department of education that were recommended to be shifted temporarily - are running in temples, open spaces or at private residences, a survey by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) revealed. DLSA submitted its compiled report to the Rajasthan high court on October 6 in a sealed format after the court took suo-motu cognisance of the deaths of seven children after the collapse of the Jhalawar school on July 27. HT accessed a copy of the report on Saturday. An analysis of the report showed that around 24 schools, whose buildings were found in dilapidated conditions and sealed by the government across the state, were shifted to nearby temples or gurdwaras. A few of them are also at loggerheads with the temple authorities for running classes there disturbing the students' regular study, as the report detailed. Meanwhile, 10 schools are running under the trees after failing to secure a proper accommodation in different schools or government premises, 17 are running at the tin-shades in front of any school, and 73 are being run from the private residences of any neighbour of the village. Another 25 schools have been shifted to open spaces including a playing field, open road, beside a drain, under a tent, or a makeshift accommodation set up with branches and twigs, revealed the report. The analysis of the DLSA survey also revealed that around six schools are still running at the same dilapidated building, 14 have accommodated all their students at a hall in the school, while a few classes of nine such schools became irregular due to lack of space. For instance, the students of the Mahatma Gandhi Government English Medium (MGEMS) school in Kota's Ramgarh Kila, which was earlier found "completely dilapidated" by the Education Department, were found sitting in front of a nearby private building under the broad sunlight and beside a "filthy drain" when DLSA team visited them on September 16. "A direction was given to provide the students of this school with a proper room with necessary furniture, toilet facility, and a suitable drinking water facility. We have also directed them not to make the students sit beside the drain or at an open area," read the report. After the Jhalawar tragedy, the Education Department, directed a state-wide survey and identify dilapidated schools buildings. The survey report, released on August 22, found a total of 5,667 schools in the state to be in a dilapidated condition, with most in Banswara, Udaipur and Jhalawar. It also found that repair of an additional 1,579 buildings already flagged as dilapidated was yet to be initiated. Banswara had 605 buildings flagged, with Jhalawar in a dubious second place with 448. The report also listed 17,109 school toilets as "completely dilapidated" Following which the government directed the district administration to seal these schools and shift them temporarily to any other nearby schools which are in safe condition or in a community centre, Anganwadi centre, or Panchayat office, or any dharamshala. However, many of such schools, which were shifted to such prescribed accommodations, were also found lacking basic facilities such as drinking water, proper toilets, sufficient rooms, and safe buildings. DLSA's visit to Government Primary School Paravati Ka Mandir in Alwar's Bansur found the 13 students being primarily shifted at an Anganwadi Centre whose roof was leaking due to heavy rains following which it was further shifted to a nearby Hanuman Temple. In Jodhpur's Government Higher Secondary School Pratapnagar, "many students were found taking a transfer certificate as the school could not be shifted to a different place," as the report showed. "The court expressed its sheer discontent over this shifting process and directed the state to ensure a proper accommodation for all these schools which have been identified in crumbling condition by October 14 and submit a further report to the court. The government had submitted its detailed plan for the renovation in a sealed report on the same date," said the counsel of the victims' families of the Jhalawar incident, advocate Vagish Kumar Singh. In view of the situation, the government has now laid out a detailed budget. "A total Rs.1624.29 has been budgeted for the renovation of all the schools. At least Rs.174 crores to 2,000 schools with "completely dilapidated buildings" was already allocated with a deadline of March 2026 to finish the work. The government will also set up 104 new schools at Rs.98.91 crore by November 2026," a senior official from the Education Department said, quoting the October 14 report to the high court. Commenting on the development, state education minister Madan Dilawar said, "The government is monitoring both the new building constructions and the renovation work of the crumbling ones. We have set a deadline to finish the renovation by March 2026, while new building projects are also in the pipeline." "We have identified a shortage of engineers in the department. As we don't have our own cadre, we are sometimes forced to rely on the ones working on deputation in other departments. Many of our teachers or lab assistants were also appointed as engineers creating a hazard to monitor the maintenance of the school buildings. Our target is to ensure that all these current renovation works are supervised by the qualified engineers. We are also specifically speaking to the PwD department and sought their engineers," he added....