Sumit, a student of a State-run primary school, came to his school after Diwali only to find it locked from outside. He along with 82 other children was forced to study on the roadside on Monday.
Notably, the owner of the building that houses the school had put in his own lock at the gate after the lock put by the municipal corporation was removed. The students and the teachers later vented their anger while staging demonstration at the local police station. A complaint was also lodged against the owner of the building. The sub divisional magistrate has ordered a probe in to the matter while the District Magistrate and the education department sounded distressed.
The teachers and the parents of the students said that the educational future of 83 children, now studying at Government Primary School no 23 at Kumhar Garha in Kankhal township, are hanging fire. The municipal corporation ran the school from a private building for over the past 100 years. Recently, the building was declared as dilapidated and a notice was issued for its demolition following which the building owner has allegedly put in his own lock after removing the one put by the civic body. Notably, nearly 30 such schools are presently running in Roorkee, Haridwar and Manglaur areas of the district from private buildings which are in precariously ramshackle state.
Speaking of the matter, SDM Manish Kumar said, “We would not allow the educational future of the children being affected in any way. After the municipal corporation issued the demolition notice the school was shifted to another building by the education department. It was later shifted back to the old place. After Diwali, the owner put his own lock in the school. We are investigating the matter.”
Quizzed, the district magistrate Deepak Rawat said that he has asked an engineer to verify the present state of the building from where the school is running. “The owner might have put the lock to have it vacated while using the demolition notice. We have also come to learn that a tiff between the head of the school and the building owner has led the latter to have the school locked. We would probe the matter and meanwhile, the students would continue with their study from another building," said DM