DESAM
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 06 2013:
Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) has said that the students of two Government schools in Sugnu Assembly Constituency are not getting the benefits under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 and midday meal scheme.
Speaking to reporters at its Keishampat office today, DESAM Secretary General Arambam Thoithoi said that the matter came to light after a DESAM team visited Pangaltabi Primary School and Sugnu Junior High School as part of the inspection tour currently underway from April 26 last.
At Pangaltabi Primary School, instead of feeding the students under midday meal scheme, the Headmaster was found keeping the Government provided rice and pulses in his house, he said.
After confiscating the said rice and pulses from the Headmaster, the team distributed the same to the students, Thoithoi added.
At Sugnu Junior High School, the school authority was found charging fees from the students instead of providing free education under RTE Act 2009,
he said.
Thoithoi further said the fees were refunded to respective students after the intervention of the DESAM inspection team.
Out of the 19 Primary schools of the Constituency, the team visited 17 schools.
In the Constituency, 469 primary school students are being taught by 48 teachers, Thoithoi said and added that no student turned up to take admission in Serou Bengali Primary School this year.
Although every Primary school must have six teachers each, most of the schools currently have two to three teachers only.
The lone Higher Secondary school of the Constituency does not have English teacher.
Saying that the Government aided schools of the Constituency do not get free uniform, Thoithoi urged the authority concerned to provide free uniform to the students of the aided schools.
Alleging that concerned ZEO, DI and AI are not taking proper care of the schools of the Constituency, Thoithoi demanded that such officials be penalised for dereliction from duty.