Lucknow: A school in Uttar Pradesh, catering to the education of 632 girls spanning nursery to class VIII, was sealed for alleged violation of rules, jeopardizing the future of the students.
The Rampur Public School (girls wing) on Topkhana Road, is run by Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust headed by senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan.
The Uttar Pradesh cabinet had on October 31, greenlit a proposal to reclaim ownership of the 41,000 square feet of land leased to the Muhammad Ali Jauhar Trust, and ordered it to be transferred to the state’s Secondary Education Department.
The Education Department and Rampur administration have released a list of 28 schools where the students can take admission. However, only 10 parents have written to the administration so far regarding admission to the new schools, even as many of them plan to admit their daughters from the next academic session.
The school was established in 2016 by the Jauhar Trust, which also runs the Muhammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur. The school had 28 staff members, including 20 teachers.
Students belonging to economically weaker families were also given a 50 per cent concession on the monthly fee, reducing it to Rs 700. School officials say that around 60 students avail the subsidy.
“The parents held meetings with the Rampur Education Department authorities, but they didn’t budge. The school was sealed on November 10. The government talks of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, but the reality is different”, says Uzma Zeeshan, whose daughter Samiya studies in class 6, as quoted by The Indian Express.
“The Rampur Public School was running under the CBSE Board, and now they are saying we can get admission in other schools. They have released a list and helpline numbers, but how will we afford these private schools, which charge admission fees, exam fees, etc?”, she asks.
Uzma runs her family expenses with meagre earnings from her husband, who sells scrap.
Parents have questioned why the school had to be sealed in the middle of a session. The administration should have at least waited for the session to conclude before sealing the school building, they said.
The school has been shifted to a temporary building, and classes were conducted on Thursday and Friday after Diwali break, said Principal Azra Naz Khan.
“We have started holding classes in another building which is around a kilometre from the one that was sealed. It is total chaos right now. We don’t know what will happen to students studying at our school. For now, we are managing. The administration is saying they can take admission at other schools, but all private schools charge hefty fees,” said Khan.
Last year, a similar action was taken against Rampur Public School, which is co-ed.
“That school had around 1,500 students. Now, it is being run from another building in the same vicinity where the girls school has shifted. Only 50 per cent of the students returned after the original building was sealed by the administration,” said Khan.
“We have formed a committee with the District Inspector of Schools and me as members. We held a meeting with the guardians. We have advertised a helpline number through newspapers, and a control room has been opened. We have selected 28 English-medium schools under the CBSE. The guardians can call these schools. We are getting admissions done,” said Rampur Basic Shiksha Adhikari Sanjeev Kumar, reports The Indian Express.
“Those are from parents who say they don’t want to shift their daughters in the middle of the session, and will only do so only in the next academic session. The other parents have not responded to us,” Kumar said. “It is a government order. I can’t say anything on it.”
“The land for the school was taken on lease for the office of the Jauhar University in 2008. It was also stated in the lease agreement that if the land is used for any other purpose, it will be cancelled. They never opened a university and started a school there, and the Samajwadi Party office on the land. They didn’t have recognition for the girls’ school. They had it for the other school being run by the Jauhar Trust (which was sealed last year). The school was running with several violations”, said Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, under whose jurisdiction Rampur falls.