The correspondents of private matriculation schools here have urged the Tamil Nadu Government to provide security for their students, themselves and school infrastructure from ‘anti-socials.'
“We are afraid and also vulnerable especially after the school violence at Pochampalli in Krishnagiri district,” S. Madhavaraj, secretary, Private Schools Correspondents Forum, Salem, told The Hindu .
After submitting a petition to the Collector here on Friday in this regard, he said running schools particularly in rural areas had become ‘very risky' with various negative forces working against the managements. “We have told these managements to create their own system of security,” he said.
The correspondents told the Collector that anti-socials under the garb of parents used to exploit even the tiniest disturbance to unleash violence. Though they expressed their anguish over the death of the student at Pochampalli, the violence aftermath could not be justified. “The culprits should be immediately brought before justice,” they urged.
Pointing out that private-run matriculation schools had been providing quality education to all including rural students, they claimed that they had been giving importance to the welfare of their students and were running the institutions with adequate caution and commitment. But the incidents of violence had caused panic among the managements that run the schools.
They asked the administrations to provide security to the schools and take necessary action to prevent violence in future. Collector J. Chandrakumar assured them of the needful.
Meanwhile, a majority of the schools in Salem district and all the private schools in Namakkal district remained closed following the token protest to the Pochampalli violence on Friday.
