Vimala Vidyalam is managed by the Roman Catholic Mission. Bishop of the mission held a meeting with the staff on Wednesday evening and announced closure of the school. Later he put a note on the school gate and sent SMSes to parents stating the school will remain closed until further orders.
The main reason behind the shutdown is withdrawal of aid by the RINL management. The management of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) provides an aid of ₹7 crore on average towards the salaries of teacher and administrative staff, apart from school maintenance.
The school had opened in 1984 in sector 6 of the steel township in Ukkunagaram soon after commissioning of the VSP to provide free education to children of rehabilitation colonies, children of contract workers and labourers. A branch of the school later opened in Peda Gantyada.
The main school has a strength of 2,200, 1,700 of them girls. The branch school has 660 students. All teachers and administrative staff members are paid salaries on par with government teachers.
Bonu Satyanarayana, who teaches mathematics in the school, said, “The announcement has stunned teachers and parents.” He pointed out that RINL management had stopped paying HRA and DA for the past five years.
Satyanarayana disclosed that Gajuwaka MLA elect Palla Srinivasa Rao had sent a message to teachers of the school that he would arrive in Visakhapatnam on Friday and talk to the RINL management.
Dr. B. Ganga Rao, corporator of GVMC representing the Steel Township said trade unions will stage a dharna on Friday to put pressure on the steel plant management to resume its aid to Vimala Vidyalam.
RINL general manager (Welfare and Management) M. Madhusudhan Rao told Deccan Chronicle on Thursday that when plant authorities signed an MoU with the school in 2019, it had suggested to the school to raise funds by collecting fee from students, as RINL had been incurring huge losses.
The school management agreed to the suggestion and started collecting a nominal fee ranging from ₹8,000 to ₹12,000. The total amount averaging to ₹2 crore was being deposited in the RINL accounts.
“We are unable to pay our employees’ salaries. How can we fund teachers,” Madhusudhan Rao asked.