Demolished school's kids harassed

HYDERABAD: Flouting the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) orders, education department officials and the police on Wednesday rounded up 120 students, roughed up teachers and parents of a school at Jubilee Hills that was demolished on the night of June 27.
While the SHRC had asked the government to carry out a probe into the demolition by July 13 and allow the school to function on Road No.22 of Jubilee Hills till then, officials swarmed the area around 10 am on Wednesday and unleashed terror.The school is just stone's throw from the new residence of Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Officials told school teachers -who were taking classes on the footpath following the demolition of the 14-year-old school -that students could not be allowed to study at that spot. Instead, they were to be shifted to nearby government schools in Bora Banda and Indira Nagar. Thereafter, they tried to bundle the kids into a waiting van.
That was when all hell broke loose. Dozens of parents, along with human rights activists, formed a human chain to stop the police from taking the kids away. "We managed to stop them today, but we don't know how long we will be able to fight," said B Sreenu, a distraught parent.
Education department officials stood their ground saying they had served a notice to the school in March this year. "Despite a notice being served, the school continued to function. We had no choice but to demolish and try shift these children to nearby government schools as per orders from higher authorities," said Ramalingeshwar, the mandal education officer.
Shoba Rani, the principal and founder of the school, alleged that the education department had hoodwinked them into signing a piece of paper, saying it was from Jubilee Hills MLA Maganti Gopinath. "The officials took our signatures without informing us. It is only in June that we recognised that it was a complaint from members of TDP against our school," said Rani, the principal. She and other teachers are planning to make a representation to Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on this issue. When TOI contacted local MLA Maganti Gopinath, he said he was not aware of the demolition. "Why would I ask anyone to demolish the school? These are baseless allegations," he added.
Later, the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights intervened and asked the education department to build a new school building in the same locality with all facilities. "Until that building is built, we have urged the government to provide free transport to the students," said Achyuta Rao, member of SCPCR.