Coimbatore: At the end of every elections, it been a nightmare for the students and teachers whose school building were used as polling booths, with election officials defacing school walls by pasting posters of candidates and election related materials.

Seeking to avoid this, functionaries of Palli Kalvi Paathukappu Iyakkam (PKPI) have submitted a petition to the Coimbatore district election office on Friday, urging the District Election Officer to ensure that no officials paste candidates' posters, symbols, or related materials on government school walls, which would mar their appearance during the Assembly elections.

Further, PKPI suggested that, instead of this, officers follow alternative methods for placing posters at schools. PKPI Coimbatore Zonal Coordinator S Chandrasekar told TNIE that, in recent years, groups of teachers and volunteers have been transforming the walls of primary and middle schools into colourful murals in many places and he said that they have drawn awareness messages, cartoons, etc., to attract students.-

"Meanwhile, ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, schools will soon be converted into polling stations. In view of the elections, officers will paste posters with candidates' names, symbols, booth details, on the walls in front of classrooms using wheat paste. As a result, the beauty of the walls will definitely be spoiled,-" he said.

"During previous Lok Sabha elections, numerous posters defaced the walls of many government schools. Moreover, school teachers spent the entire day tearing posters from the walls using water. Despite this, the walls where posters had been pasted remained spoiled, he recalled.

"Instead of pasting posters on walls, the Election Commission should adopt alternative measures, such as putting up banners with candidates' names, symbols, and other details. Alternatively, like private schools, officers could install temporary blackboards on campus and place the posters on them,-" he suggested.

A teacher from the Pattampoochikal organization in Tiruppur, who did not wish to be named, told TNIE that they have transformed around 260 government schools across the state in a meaningful way. -"During previous elections, posters were pasted on our drawings in some schools in Coimbatore, which disappointed our team. The Election Commission should take necessary steps on this.-"

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.