Hindu residents of Achankuttam village in Tamil Nadu who stopped sending more than 100 children to the local government-aided primary school in March alleging that the school administration is preaching Christianity staged a protest in Veerakeralampudur. Additionally, they sent a petition to Chief Minister MK Stalin demanding a government school in their village.
Today, August 9, officials of the School Education Department plan to conduct a talk with the parents to send their children to any school today.
In a petition undersigned by more than 400 individuals, the residents alleged that the administration of the government-aided primary school is also attempting to construct a church in a poramboke land (government land that cannot be used for private purposes), as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
Residents grievances
Speaking on this, the residents said, "We opposed the construction of a church in March and staged a protest. After we blocked the road against the construction, the police arrested us. Since then, we stopped sending our children to the particular school." Additionally, "We petitioned the District Collector and other officials demanding a government school. Our children wrote last year's annual examination in a government school located six km away from our village. We have provided land for the construction of the government school and a building for the temporary classes," residents added.
Further, they demanded, "The school education department should provide our children with government teachers, school books, lunch and uniforms for the 2023-24 academic year. Since the count of the government-aided school declined, the government can appoint its teachers to teach our children," said the residents.
Peace talk with parents
When contacted by The New Indian Express, Chief Educational Officer of Tenkasi district Muthaiah said that while the Hindu parents had admitted 56 students to different schools, the parents of another 70 students had refused to send their children to any school. "The religious issue can be resolved with talks. But, for no reason should parents stop their children from going to school. They should at least send their children to any other school considering their loved ones' future," he said.
"In this connection, we are going to conduct a peace talk with the parents on Wednesday (August 9). The Revenue Divisional Officer, school education officials, Tahsildar and police officials will take part in this. We also communicated their demand for a new school to the state government," he added.
Another official said that the count of students in the government-aided school of their village declined to about 20 while three government-aided teachers and a few temporary teachers, appointed by the management, are available. "The same kind of issue is going on in Kuthapanchan village near Alangulam. However, the Hindu parents there agreed to send their children to a nearby school after the school education department arranged a government bus to pick up and drop the students," he added.
