Exams under open sky

THAT students must sit on pavements to appear for examinations because their school has been demolished is very difficult to believe. The saga of demolishing Samajik Shikkhakendra Government Primary School in the capital city is one of bewilderment for us. Going by what has been published in the media; the dispute over the ownership of the land has been ongoing since 2002 with the Court delivering verdict in favour of Girls' Guide, and the said school was demolished following the ruling.

As the matter is still undergoing litigation in court, there is no scope to comment on it. The same cannot be said about the ministry of education. Our question is where is the ministry of education in all this? And it is not understood why particularly the Directorate of Primary and Mass Education had not taken any action to ameliorate the condition of the students knowing fully well their predicaments.

Whatever may be the merits or demerits of the land dispute on which school premises stood, it falls upon the education ministry to make alternative arrangements for students to carry on their education. That student must brave the elements including extreme heat and rain to attend classes on pavements is totally unacceptable.

Given the situation, we would call upon the ministry to make haste to allocate alternative space for these “orphaned” students so that their education faces no further disruption and they may be spared any further mental anguish.