Child rights panel to send notices to Municipal department for conducting classes

May 02, 2019 01:07 am | Updated 01:07 am IST

Students of GDET Municipal High School coming out from the school after attending classes as part of the Gnanadhara Plus programme in Vijayawada on Wednesday.

Students of GDET Municipal High School coming out from the school after attending classes as part of the Gnanadhara Plus programme in Vijayawada on Wednesday.

While there is a hue and cry and official crackdown against conduct of classes during summer at various educational institutions, the city municipal corporation on Wednesday started the Municipal Administration Department’s ‘Gnanadhara Plus’, a month-long programme at the Govind Raja Dharma Enam Trust (GDET) Municipal High School in Patamata like it was any other working day.

The attendance turnout of students was more than expected. Across the State, the Department is conducting the programme in 58 centres in Urban Local Bodies.

The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, which is in the know of the programme, is going to issue notices to the department concerned.

When contacted, SCPCR chairperson Ganta Hymavathi said that so far the Municipal Department had only orally communicated that the summer classes were only to support students. “Since the classes have been started today, we will send a notice to the Department seeking an explanation, as forcing students to attend classes during peak summer amounts to violation,” Ms. Hymavathi told The Hindu .

UTF opposes classes

Finding fault with the Education Department’s decision to make slow learners attend special ‘revision’ classes during the summer vacations, leaders of the AP United Teachers’ Federation (UTF) called the department stand ‘self-contradictory’.

In a statement on Wednesday, federation president Sk. Sabji and general secretary P. Babu Reddy said the Education Department had earlier issued a circular strictly warning school managements against conduct of classes during summer holidays. But it was contradicting its own decision now by allowing special classes for ‘slow learners’ in the drought-hit mandals of the State, they said.

The department officials had also failed to properly implement their decision to continue serving mid-day meals in schools even in the summer holidays. Pointing to the hot summer afternoons, they said the haphazard policies of the department were subjecting students to hardships.

They demanded immediate withdrawal of the GO issued by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Director on conduct of classes during summer holidays.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.