THE TRIBUNE IMPACT: Now, girls won’t have to drop out of school

Mohit Khanna

Advertisement

Patiala, July 27

The faces of Nisha and Sania — Class XII students of humanities at a Rajpura senior secondary school — are beaming with joy. They may well be the last generation of girls that had to undertake an arduous 14-km journey to get to senior school.

The pursuit of education has been demanding, for both boys and girls, who have to trudge 3 km on broken roads to reach the highway to secure some mode of transport to school. In the second leg of their journey, upon reaching Rajpura, they have to tread another kilometre before they finally reach their school.

The villages of Kheri Gandian, Khandoli, Bhadak, Jakhran, Gajipur, Khanpur Gandian, Badholi Gujjran, Dhendsa, and other nearby areas have witnessed a disconcerting hike in the dropout rate. These communities, primarily small-scale farmers and labourers, depend on government schools for the education of their wards.

Panchayats sign resolution

We are grateful to the Punjab and Haryana High Court for asking the government to act. Education Department officials visited us two days ago and promised to upgrade the village high school to senior secondary. We have sent a resolution signed by the panchayats of six villages to the department. —Harbilas Singh, Kheri Gandian Sarpanch

But things are likely to change. What lends credence to this belief is the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s suo motu cognisance of a report by “The Tribune”, highlighting the plight of young girls from over 10 villages along the Patiala-Rajpura highway who dropped out of school due to unsafe travel conditions and the lack of affordable transport.

“We had given up hope that the fate of these children would ever change. We are grateful to the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court for asking the government to act,” says Harbilas Singh, sarpanch of Kheri Gandian. “Education Department officials visited us two days ago and promised to upgrade the village high school to senior secondary. We have sent a resolution signed by the panchayats of six villages to the department.”

“The nearest senior secondary schools, located at Kauli village or Rajpura town, are 14 to 16 km away, making the journey long and perilous,” he states.

A Class X student, Sumanpreet Kaur of Khanpur village is visibly relieved. “The school headmaster has told us that our school may soon be upgraded. Many girls from my village gave up their studies. I do not want to leave my education midway. My parents were hesitant to send me to Government Senior Secondary School in Rajpura due to the distance. I dream of the day when I am a high-ranking government official,” she smiles, knowing that she is a step closer to making her dream a reality.