Plea to enact law to protect private schools, teachers, students and properties

TIRUNELVELI

The Tirunelveli District Private Schools’ Association has urged the Tamil Nadu Government to pass legislation to protect private schools, teachers, students and properties from anti-social elements who unleash brutal attacks on them.

 In a petition submitted to Collector V. Vishnu at the weekly grievance redressal meet at the Collectorate on Monday, association members led by its president K. Muthumani said the attack unleashed by a violent mob on Shakthi Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Kallakurichi district following the unfortunate death of a girl student and the looting that followed was highly condemnable.

 While the student’s death should be probed thoroughly and in an unbiased manner to bring the culprits responsible for the incident to justice, the attack and arson committed by the violent mob that looted the furniture and other properties of the school could not be tolerated.

 “Under the guise of parents of students, these kinds of attacks are being conducted by an organised group that loots the properties of schools across Tamil Nadu. The school records, including the certificates of a few thousand students, have been destroyed by this mob at Kallakurichi that even unleashed attack on the police. The incident once again shows that there is no protection for private schools and the teachers working there and even the students. There is no guarantee for the safety of the teachers and the students. Considering the gravity of the situation, the Tamil Nadu Government should pass legislation to protect the schools, its teachers, the students and the properties from the attacks of the organised mobs,” the petitioners said.

 Even though the Tamil Nadu Nursery and Matriculation Schools’ Association had called for a State-wide strike by private schools on Monday to protest the attack on the Kallakurichi school, there was no response from institutions in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi and Kanniyakumari districts.

 “Since the ongoing probe by the Tamil Nadu police is progressing on the right path, we do not want to do anything to scuttle the process. Hence, we decided to function on Monday notwithstanding the strike call given by our association,” said the correspondent of a leading matriculation higher secondary school in Palayamkottai.

 Following untoward incidents at Kallakurichi and the subsequent strike call, police were deployed in front of all schools including government-aided schools in Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai on Monday.