Date:25/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/25/stories/2008062552830300.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Schools’ merger triggers protest

Staff Reporter

Irate villagers lock up upper primary school at Gonepudi

— Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

IN AGITATION MODE: Schoolchildren in Guravayyapalem in Narsaraopet mandal leaving the school in protest against the merger of upper primary sections in the nearest high school at Yellamanda.

NARSARAOPET: The fate of hundreds of students of Class 6 and 7 in villages around Narsaraopet hangs in balance after the recent Government Orders directing merger of Classes 6 and 7 in upper primary schools with the nearest high schools. Villagers of Gonepudi, Guravayapalem, Petlurivaripalem and Ekkorru have been agitating for the past one week protesting against the decision which is forcing their children to commute long distances to continue their higher education.

Rasta roko staged

The villagers have already taken to the streets on the issue. On Tuesday, irate villagers at Gonepudi locked up the Upper Primary School after sending away teachers and students. On Monday, villagers at Petlurivaripalem staged a rasta roko on the Palnadu road holding up traffic for nearly three hours.

For instance, the classes 6 and 7 at the upper primary schools at Gonepudi and Guravayavaripalem were merged with high school at Yellamanda, which is located at a distance of 4.8 k.m away from the villages. “We are wary of sending our children to the school. As our village does not bus facility, our children would be forced to walk all the way to the school. With the monsoon setting in, the roads would be dangerous,” said Jagarlamudi Hanumantha Rao, a villager from Guravayapalem.

In case of Ikkoru village, children who wanted to pursue higher classes have to trek a distance of nearly 3.5 k.m to reach Shankar Bharathi School at Lingamguntla. “Most of the villagers are farmers. With both the husband and the wife leaving the house at dawn, they do not want to risk their children commuting long distances on the roads,” says Sarpanch, Kolli Anjaneyulu. The villagers had even got a certificate from the R & B Department that the distance between the villages is more than 2 k.m. Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday, District Education Officer Y. Chandramohan allayed the fears and said that High Schools would offer better facilities with computer labs and language labs part of the success schools project.