Worried over the future of their wards, parents of students from remote villages of Ulichi, Marlapadu and Basavanapalem staged a demonstration in front of the Prakasam Bhavan here on Saturday in protest against the merger of classes three, four and five with high schools.
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They raised slogans pressing for continuing the primary schools in their locality during the protest organised by the Students Federation of India. They feared risk to the lives of the tiny tots if they were forced to walk long distances braving water bodies en route and on arterial roads with heavy vehicular traffic.
Leading the protest, SFI Prakasam district secretary Ch. Vinod said the State government's merger decision under the New Education Policy(NEP) had evoked strong resentment in a majority of the 300 cases in the district. The government should reconsider the decision as it would fuel drop out rate in schools, he added.
Students at a tender age could not be expected to walk for more than one km through fields and on canal bunds after crossing railway track and on expressways, explained Democratic Youth Federation of India District President K.F. Babu.
The government should take back its decision with regard to at least 100 schools, added SFI Ongole unit president G Edukondalu. The decision would hit hard the studies of students from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities, felt Kula Vivaksha Porata Sangam District president A. Raghavalu.