The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Protests over move to close schools

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Saturday, Jul 14, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Protests over move to close schools

-Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

For a cause: Students of Government and aided schools protesting in front of office of the Director of School Education against the closure of Government schools and mushrooming of corporate schools, in Hyderabad on Friday.

HYDERABAD: Students of Government and private schools in many areas in the city and several parts of the State boycotted classes on Friday and participated in demonstrations and rallies to protest the Government’s decision to close a large number of schools.

The boycott was organised in response to a State-wide strike by leaders of the AISF, SFI, PDSU, AIDSO and others. In the city, students boycotted classes in the Himayatnagar, Narayanguda and Mushirabad areas and took out rallies to RTC Crossroads. Veemayya (AISF), Harikrishna (SFI), S.L.Padma (PDSU), S. Kranti (PDSU, Vijrumbana) addressed the agitating students.

They criticised the Government for failing to solve the problems facing the school education sector.

Groups of students, under the aegis of the AISF, burnt an effigy of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Similar protests were organised at ECIL Crossroads, Kukatpally, Secunderabad, Tarnaka, Dilsukhnagar, Malakpet, Chatrinaka and Moghulpura areas, according to Uma Mahesh, City AISF secretary.

Memo submitted

Activists of SFI and AIDSO held a demonstration at the Directorate of School Education, after boycotting classes in Panjagutta, Khairatabad, Nampally and Abids.

Leaders of the two organisations submitted a memorandum to officials in the Directorate demanding reopening of the 1,007 Government schools closed last year and dropping the move to shut down another 6,000 schools in 2007-08 and allocate more funds to improve school education.

Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, who staged a dharna near the Ranga Reddy Collectorate, were lathicharged and taken into custody.

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