After more than a decade of wait, residents, students, traders, farmers and ward members staged a day-long protest in front of the Government High School in Munjurpattu, a tiny village near Vellore, on Thursday demanding its upgradation to a higher secondary school. Residents said that it was more than a decade ago in 2011 when villagers pooled in their resources and paid the deposit amount of ₹two lakh through Parents Teachers Association to the School Education Department for upgrading the school. Since then, they have been petitioning government officials at all levels. The council at the panchayat have also passed resolutions in its gram sabha meetings every year on the issue. In fact, the school itself has sent the proposal, at least eight times in the past few years, for an upgrade. However, the Department remained unmoved. “What else can we do to get the the school upgraded for our children in the village. We are forced to protest today (Thursday) on the issue,” said R. Kumar, president, Munjurpattu village panchayat. Spread over two acres, the school has 370 students, including 161 girls with 14 teachers. The school was built in 1969 and was functioning as a middle school for many years before it was upgraded into a high school in 2001. Since then, the school has remained the lone government high school in the village. The school’s students have excelled in Class X Board examinations with, on an average, 85% for the past few years. The school’s enrollment has also risen by at least 30 to 40 students every year. The upgradation of the school has been delayed, citing low strength in Class X (78 students). As a result, students from the village and neighbouring hamlets have to go to Thorapadi or Kanniyambadi, by travelling a distance of around 10 km from the village, for higher secondary schools. With less number of bus services and overcrowded buses, high class students, especially boys, were able to manage to go to these schools everyday. However, officials said that the school dropouts among girls from the village especially at higher secondary level is high. “We have sent the proposal for the upgradation of the school to the government. Like everyone, we are awaiting a positive outcome,” K. Munusamy, Chief Educational Officer (CEO), Vellore, told The Hindu.
