Four months after the reopening of schools, a differently-abled boy from Kozhikode, one of the recipients of the State government’s Ujjwala Balyam scheme for child prodigies, is yet to join class as there is no high school in his village.
Mohammed Asim was born without hands and has 90% disabilities. This 13-year-old boy makes up for his limitations by being active in arts, culture, and the social life in his village.
It was his campaign, ably supported by his family and village residents, that led the Education Department upgrade the lone government lower primary school to an upper primary school in 2015.
However, after completing Class VII this March, he had been running from pillar to post with a request to upgrade the school to enable his higher studies.
After the government rejected the request, an action committee formed by villagers and social activists launched a series of agitations, including a signature campaign and a dharna, outside the Collectorate to drive home the point, P.K. Anvar Sadath, PTA president of Government Mappila U.P. school, Velimanna, told The Hindu .
“We thought our efforts bore fruit when a Single Bench of the Kerala High Court in June directed the authorities to upgrade the school in two weeks. The government, however, chose to file an appeal in the Division Bench. Though the schools reopened in June, Asim is yet to join Class VIII,” he said. The court is expected to take up the case this week.
Asim’s father Saeed Yamani said his son was determined to continue the fight until the school was upgraded.
“It is difficult for him to go to any other high school, which is around 5 km away. I work far from home. So my wife takes care of Asim and his younger siblings. She has to drop him at school in the morning, fetch his lunch and feed him, and pick him in the evening,” he said.
In his petition before the High Court, Asim had contended that provisions of the Right to Education Act ensured mandatory education for every child up to Class VIII within a three-km radius. There were no government high schools in the grama panchayat either.
The High Court had dismissed 133 of the 134 petitions from across the State, which sought to upgrade lower primary schools as upper primary schools.
“The Education Department claims they can arrange a vehicle to take him to the high school five km away. It is not practical for us,” Mr. Yamani added.
