Students stage dharna for upgrade of Panipat school

Tribune News Service

Panipat, May 22

Girl students of Government Secondary School (GGS) at Nangal Kheri village in the district along with their parents and villagers today locked the main gate of the school and staged a dharna for more than six hours to demand upgrade of their school to the senior secondary level.

The protesters threatened to block the National Highway-1 if their demand was not accepted.

Satpal Singh, Block Education Officer, and police officials reached the village to pacify the protesters.

Villagers led by sarpanch Suman Devi reached the school in the morning and locked the main gate after asking teachers to leave the school, said a teacher.

“We are just demanding to upgrade our school because we want to continue our studies. Our parents do not want to send us to far away schools,” said Praveen, a Class X student.

Tamanna, another student, said, “I passed my Class X from the village school and got admission in a government school in the city, but my parents refused to send my there.”

Sarpanch Suman Devi said the request for upgrade of the school was rejected twice by the government by stating that it was not feasible to upgrade the school because of two nearby government schools.

Satpal Singh, BEO said, a file regarding upgrade the school had already been sent to the higher authorities.