Residents protest merger of boys, girls’ schools in Nurpur

Up in arms against the Education Department’s notification on merging boys’ government senior secondary school (GSSS) with PM BTC girls GSSS in Nurpur town, the residents and parents of students today lodged their protest at the Mini-Secretariat. Under the banner of local Veopar Mandal, the protestors had planned to submit a memorandum to the SDM. Incidentally, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Chander Kumar was present in the secretariat to preside over a meeting and the protesters submitted the memorandum to him.

The residents said they had no objection in converting the girls GSSS into a CBSE-affiliated school but they were against the merger of over a century-old boys GSSS with girls GSSS. Jagrel Rana, a retired government teacher, said students must have an option of studying in CBSE and HP Board schools. He said after the proposed merger, the boys would be deprived of the facility of studying in HPBSE affiliated school in the town which is why the state government must revoke its notification.

Ashok Shamra, outgoing president of Nurpur Municipal Council, lamented that after the closure of the boys GSSS students had to travel 15 to 20 kilometers (to and fro) daily to study at an HPBSE-affiliated school. He claimed that most students who studied in HP board schools were from underprivileged families and would face financial distress if these schools were shut.