Staff Correspondent
Port Blair, Jan 16: The Boys School boundary issue has become a bone of contention between the TGCE authority and Boys’ School students.
Today nearly 100 students of Boys Senior Secondary School came out of school and protested against the boundary wall construction works of Tagore Government College, which was in progress behind the TGCE Canteen. Students, a few with iron rods in hand demanded to stop the boundary wall construction work immediately. Fuming students were also demanding removal of TGCE’s board from TGCE’s Canteen and Auditorium.
Earlier on 9th January 2012, these students had blocked roads and demanded access to the TGCE canteen and auditorium, a playground, removal of TGCE’s board from Canteen and Auditorium etc.
However the issue was tactfully resolved for today by the SHO of PS Aberdeen, Mr. Stalin and students were sent back inside the School Campus after a short discussion. But some students told Andaman Sheekha that they would be organising another protest tomorrow morning.
Protest by students is not a new thing in A & N Islands, but the way these protests are being organised, it seems that these protested are well-orchestrated and pre-scripted. The rift between the Education Department and TGCE is an open secret but sadly to settle scores now students are being misguided by a few teachers, it seems.
The saddest part of the story was when students came out of Boys School campus and were protesting at TGCE gate, there were no teachers around the students. When Andaman Sheekha Editor entered the school to meet the Principal, it was informed that the Principal was away from School. Even his mobile phone was unreachable. Attempt to contact officials of Education Department also yielded no results as nobody picked up the phone.
Though teachers of Boys School were peeping from balcony and were silently watching students protesting on road none of the teacher stopped the students from protesting.
“Principal Sir told us that he can’t do anything but we are free to do whatever we feel like,” said one of the protesting students in present of police officers.
There are ways to solve grievances of students inside the school campus, there are thousands of trick to handle angry students but it seems that the principal of the school is unable to control students of his own school. What is the use of having a general if he fails to control his troop? Is it because the school management was unable to control the angry student or because they wanted the students to protest on road? In case of any untoward incident the innocent students would have suffered loss and also police case.
The Chief Secretary must question the Director of Education and also the Principal of TGCE for not resolving the issue, keeping safety and future of students in mind.
Sources told Andaman Sheekha that a few teachers of the school are behind the entire episode, who are allegedly instigating students to protest. There is a need to conduct a thorough inquiry in this regard.
Students are future of our nation and at any cost they should not be used as a mean to settle personal or professional scores.
