PANAJI
The Goa Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the Director of Education and the Chairman of Prabodhan Education Society, Porvorim regarding the forced relocation of kindergarten to Class IV students of Vidhya Prabodhini School to new premises, located adjacent to a garbage plant infested with flies and mosquitoes.
The parents lodged a complaint with the Commission alleging that the school management, particularly the principal, has been forcing and harassing children to attend classes in the new building by abruptly closing the old premises.
The parents have been protesting outside the school since the management ceased classes in the old building on June 14, relocating nursery and primary classes up to Class IV to the new building near Nana Nani Park, next to the waste treatment plant of Penha de Franca Panchayat. Parents demanded that classes revert to the old building near the Goa Board premises while charging the school management for shifting classes without prior permission from the education department.
In their complaint, they further claimed that headmistress Neeta Salunke physically pushed small children to prevent them from entering the old building some days back; and that the school authorities are using police force to manage protesting parents. “They are compelling children to attend classes in the new building,” the complaint stated adding that the management misled parents into enrolling their children and then illegally forcing students to attend classes in an environment plagued by the stench of garbage, flies and mosquitoes.
In response to the complaint, the Commission ordered issuing notices to the Director of Education and the Chairman of Prabodhan Education Society, asking them to reply and appear for a hearing on August 7.
