Kozhikode: The recent order of the DPI to close down the Aided Upper Primary School, Malaparamba, comes at a critical juncture, as that school is also a polling station in the upcoming Assembly election. If the order is implemented, the headmistress of the school will have to vacate her position and there would not be anyone to hand over the school to the Election Commission.
It is to be recalled that the plight of the school was highlighted when the building was demolished by the manager on April 1, 2014.
Meanwhile, the school protection committee will intensify its protest against the DPI's order that comes almost three months after the High Court order to close down the school. The protection committee finds that the order by the DPI, after the declaration of the election date, is a major violation of the election code of conduct.
After a series of battles following the razing down and reconstruction of the school, now the property has fallen into the hands of the manager, and he is eligible to sell or run the school. This is followed by a High Court Division Bench order dismissing the appeal filed by the School Protection 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 down the school by March 31. Challenging the order, the school protection committee had approached the Division Bench. However this appeal was dismissed. Though the committee insists that it would continue the legal fight, the headmistress says she has almost given up hope.
"This uncertainty has continued from 2010 onward. It has been almost six years. When children of every other school prepare for the new academic year in June every year, our worry is whether the school would be there. Now that the Division Bench has also dismissed our appeal, I have lost all hope," said headmistress N.M. Preethi.
It was in the wee hours of April 11, 2014, soon after the Lok Sabha elections ended, that the school was razed. The school was a polling booth for the election. The manager's brother P K Ajith and two helpers were arrested following the incident.
There are currently eight teachers, including Padmarajan's wife Ajitha, and one peon. The school has a student strength of 60 and five students had joined last year in the new kindergarten section.
