AEO K S Kusuman barred from closing school

Kozhikode: The school protection committee of the Aided Upper Primary School, Malaparamba, prevented the city assistant education officer  from implementing the High Court order to close down the school and take back the  key and documents from the principal on Monday.  

AEO K.S. Kusuman, along with a police force, had reached the school  around 10 a.m. and tried to enter the  premises to meet the headmistress when the members of the protection forum blocked their  way. Following this, there was a minor clash between the police and the agitators.

The court had ordered the AEO to take  charge of the school latest by May 23 in the wake of her failure to implement  its order passed on March 31. But the AEO left the  premises after a three-hour-long stand-off with the committee members, who opposed the management move to close the uneconomic school.  

“The High Court had ordered to complete the  closure procedures as soon as possible,”  said the AEO.  Since the protestors blocked me, I will report the matter to the higher authorities,” she added. It was reported that the school officials had   started the procedures for admitting students to the school.

“Since the school is under uneconomical category, the manager of the school has the right to close it down with prior intimation to the educational officer as per  clause number 72 of Kerala Education Act,” she added. Kozhikode North assistant commissioner K. Ashraf  said that a chaotic situation had prevailed on the school for more than two hours.

Hasty decision to close down school

 

Hundreds of members representing different political parties and the local people around Malapparamba raised slogans against the education department and police officials for  taking a hasty decision on  the closure of the Aided Upper Primary School.  The indefinite strike staged by the school protection committee  had entered  the 41st day when the education department with the support of the police tried to take over the institution.

Mr Pradeep Kumar, MLA, who is also the patron of the school protection committee, said, “the police took  a hasty decision to demolish the school before the new government takes charge.”  They could have waited till that time and given a report in the High Court citing the people’s protest, he  said.   “Through struggle,  the committee could raise a new building for the school after the manager demolished it and we are still having a debt of '9  lakh in this regard,” he added.

Regarding the protection of the over 140-year-old school, the court had ruled in favour of the  manager who had sought permission to close it down  in spite of several protests. “After a series of protests following the razing down and reconstruction of the school, now the property has fallen into the manager’s kitty, where he is eligible to sell or run the school,”  said Mr M. Jaideep, convenor of the school protection committee.

A High Court Division Bench had dismissed  the appeal filed by the committee against an order to close down the school. On January 18, manager P.K. Padmarajan had obtained an order from the High Court to close it by March 31. Challenging the order, the committee had approached the Division Bench.

However,  this appeal was dismissed. “After that incident we kickstarted the indefinite strike and it was after 41 days that the government officials approached the school for compulsory closure against which we have protested,” he  added.