Date:17/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/17/stories/2008071754490600.htm

Tamil Nadu

Residents continue school boycott at Sannasinallur

R. Krishnamoorthy

Demand upgrade of Panchayat Union Middle School; district administration’s efforts yield no result

ARIYALUR: Despite the passage of more than a month after the reopening of schools, residents of Sannasinallur village in Ariyalur district are still continuing with their boycott demanding to upgrade the Panchayat Union Middle School into a high school.

There is no sign of the protest ending as yet and parents are vehemently keeping their children indoors. Several attempts made so far by the district administration and the Education department authorities to convince the villagers that their demand would be fulfilled in the next academic year have failed to yield results.

As a mark of protest, the villagers have now begun to return their voter identity cards to the Village Administrative Officer.

The district administration, on its part, had already made a strong recommendation to the State Government to upgrade the school, official sources said.

The villagers are agitated since their initiative to mobilise a deposit of Rs.1 lakh for the purpose has not been honoured.

Their grouse is that many children, especially girls, drop out every year since the students have to travel long distances for availing themselves of high school education.

The State Government had decided to upgrade 100 middle schools into high schools and of them, five schools in the composite Perambalur district (including the present Ariyalur district) – at Neikuppai and Niranjankudi in Perambalur, and Silal, Anganur and Nagamangalam in Ariyalur – have been upgraded, according to the Chief Educational Officer N.K. Rajarajan.

Also, the Higher Secondary School in Andimadam in Ariyalur district has been bifurcated for the start of a separate Girls’ High School, he said.

Ire on political parties

Meanwhile, the villagers have started venting their ire on political parties.

They have set August 15 as the deadline for the officialdom to address their demand.

In the event of their demand remaining unfulfilled by then, the villagers have reportedly planned to remove flagposts of all parties in Sannasinallur.