Activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) on Tuesday took out a march to the office of the Deputy Director of Education (DDE) in Kozhikode demanding that the government take over the Aided Upper Primary School at Malaparamba, which is being reconstructed after it was allegedly demolished by a group of antisocial elements allegedly at the behest of the school manager about a month ago..
Inaugurating the march, district secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) T.P. Ramakrishnan said the party was closely monitoring the response of the government to the issue. He said the government’s response so far, including that of the Minister for Education, was “suspicious” and gave credence to the allegations of “silent consent” given by the government to the manager to raze down the school.
The CPI(M) leader said the government was yet to take a decision on its “promise” made in the Assembly to review the sanction given to its manager to close down the school citing economic non-viability and road widening.
Promising all support to the School Protection Committee, Mr. Ramakrishnan said the school had already become a symbol of agitations and struggles to protect public education and public educational institutions. “We are waiting for the government’s final call on the issue. The party will support the cause and lead the agitations if the government went ahead with the decision to close down the school succumbing to pressure from the manager,” Mr. Ramakrishnan said.
Over 100 members of the federation participated in the march.
The DYFI, which has been participating in the reconstruction initiatives of the school, has promised to donate benches, desks and other requirements for the school, after collecting funds from its workers as well as the public.
