Catholic schools asked to reopen from today; Govt promises armed guards
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, April 21 2015 : The Manipur government has asked the Catholic schools in the valley districts to reopen without fail from Wednesday.

School vans should also ferry the students as usual from Wednesday morning failing which their permits may be cancelled.

A cabinet meeting held on Tuesday evening took this resolution, inter alia, which will give a sigh of relief to the parents , students, DESAM and AMSU activists who have been clamouring all these days for the reopening of the schools.

The four schools were closed down from April 1 at the behest of one outlawed underground organisation.

In a press release it vowed not to retrace its steps on the issue.

The cabinet in a meeting held on April 9 reviewed the situation stemming out of the school gridlock.

The meeting held on Tuesdays agreed to formulate guidelines and rules to govern the admission process in the Catholic schools.

Children on a sit-in protest against the ban on their school

All the Catholic schools should be reopened from Wednesday and the Government has made adequate security arrangements.

The government had taken a serious view of the indefinite closure of the schools since the academic career of over 17,000 students was in jeopardy.

It is clear that some school representatives were not pleased since they will be at the receiving end.

Making an oblique reference to it the government notice said that those schools which refuse to reopen from Wednesday may be subjected to cancellation of affiliation to the Board of Secondary Education Manipur.

Till the time of filing this report reactions from the school authorities were not available.

But on Monday and Tuesday most of them refused to open the gate despite the physical presence of student activists of DESAM.

Similarly the school van drivers who refuse to ferry students will be axed.

Some sections including parents acidly said that the government action comes a bid late in the day since the students have lost 22 days of classes.

Parents, MSF call meetings today; DESAM reaffirms stance.

All parents of students of St Joshep's School, Imphal will be holding a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the future of their wards.

All Catholic schools in Imphal have been forced to close down indefinitely since April 1 following a ban imposed by the proscribed KCP (MC) for allegedly failing to provide reservation in admission to the marginalized section of the society.

A press release issued by some parents and guardians informed all parents to attend the meeting to be held at 9 am at the St Joseph's School campus.

Meanwhile, Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) in a statement asserted that the student body will not remain a mute spectator to the issue.

DESAM while lauding the efforts launched by KCP (MC) to improve quality of education in Manipur, informed that most of the Catholic schools reopened and resumed regular classes on Tuesday and urged all operators of school vans to begin service from Wednesday.

Manipur Students' Federation (MSF) has called an urgent meeting of all Catholic School authorities/supervisors at MSF office on Wednesday at 2 pm in an effort to find an amicable solution to the current impasse.

MSF claims that the Catholic School authorities need to let out their views and comments to the public as the situation has worsen and the stand of KCP (MC) seems to have become rigid as per the reports stated through electronic and print media.

MSF also expects KCP (MC) to understand the ground situation and their effort to bring about a peaceful situation, said a press release issued by MSF HQ Publicity & Information Secretary, O Premshagar.