A group of parents whose children were studying in a private matriculation higher secondary at Navavoor, in the outskirts of Coimbatore, staged a protest condemning school authorities who allegedly forced students to sweep the classroom, at the school campus on Monday. Following the parents gathering at the school campus, they got involved in an argument with the school authorities.
According to the sources from the School Education Department, more than 1,000 students are studying from LKG to Class XII in the school. A few students from Classes VI to X went home late in the evening for a few days last week. When parents asked about being late, children said that class teachers forced them to sweep the classroom in the evening on a rotation basis after finishing school. The enraged parents have staged protests at the campus and argued with school authorities. Knowing this, police personnel from the Vadavalli Station held talks with parents.
School authorities have assured that they would not involve students in cleanliness work. A parent said, "Despite cleanliness workers being in the school, based on school management authorities' direction, a few class teachers selected three students randomly and forced them to sweep the classroom, violating the norms." When asked about it, one of the authorities from the school told TNIE, "Even after cleaning the classes, some students put the paper waste in the classroom. So class teachers instructed students that if they litter, they'll have to sweep the classroom. We only gave them the instructions and we did not force children to sweep the classroom."
When asked about it, Coimbatore District Education Officer, A Valliyammal, told TNIE, "We did not receive any complaints from schools. Despite this, we would make inquiries with the school soon."
