India, Sept. 6 -- Nearly 500 students of Rajkiya Varishth Madhyamik Vidyalaya in Budhera village, Sector 102, have been forced to study in knee-deep, garbage-filled water for nearly a week after record rainfall left their school waterlogged. Classrooms remain flooded, toilets inaccessible, and basic facilities crippled, pushing many children to skip school and others to fall ill, students and parents said.

"The water inside the school has cut us off from the toilets. Many of us only come on important days now," said a Class 12 student, who asked not to be identified, after attending the school on Friday to mark Teachers' Day.

With sanitation staff rarely available, students said they are often tasked with cleaning classrooms themselves....