CANACONA
Barely a day after schools reopened following Diwali vacations, 38 primary students from the Government Primary School (GPS) at Karvem in Gaondongrim-Canacona were asked to boycott classes on Tuesday, while their parents agitated outside the school after objecting to the deputation of a tainted teacher to the school.
While Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes met the agitating parents in the presence of Gaondongrim Sarpanch Suman Gaonkar and Canacona ADEI Ganesh Shet, the parents have remained adamant and have refused to send their children to school until the teacher concerned is shifted out of the school.
According to sources, the parents were outraged over the deputation of a teacher at the Karvem GPS, after the teacher was shunted out of the GPS at Nuem-Shristhal for objectionable practices and behaviour with schoolchildren in October. On learning that the tainted teacher was transferred to the Karvem GPS, the unhappy parents initially raised strong concerns with the village sarpanch and later submitted a memorandum to Deputy Director of Education (South) Dr Uday Gaonkar on November 14, demanding a change in the transfer order of the teacher concerned before the school reopens after the Diwali vacation.
The memorandum had provided detailed information and newspaper cuttings regarding the erratic behaviour of the teacher concerned while serving at a neighbouring village school. The parents insisted that they did not want their children to be subjected to the same erratic behaviour by the teacher in question.
Speaking to reporters, the aggrieved parents said the GPS Karvem had increased the student enrolment from a meagre 25 to 38, mainly because of two dedicated teachers.
“The ADEI suddenly shifted one of these dedicated teachers to another remote Ziltawadi GPS, only to accommodate this tainted teacher at our school,” complained a parent.
Added Sarpanch Suman Gaonkar: “The deputy director of education failed to act on the demands of parents, leaving them with no option but to agitate and get their children to boycott classes.”
School PTA chairman has warned that parents would not allow their children to attend classes and would continue agitating outside their school, till authorities agree to their demands of transferring the tainted teacher and reinstating the teacher who had earlier served in their school.
