Threaten to pull out their children and seek closure of school

Following the transfer of two teachers from the Denad Panchayat Union Primary School in Kil Kotagiri by the School Education Department for taking part in the Jactto-Geo protests, the parents of 65 children have threatened to pull them out of the school as a mark of protest.

At a meeting on Sunday, which was attended by members of the Parents Teachers Association of the school and the village education committee, a resolution was passed stating that if the two teachers in question were transferred, the parents would stop their children from attending school and would ask them to stay at home.

The meeting was attended by village leaders.

A parent, who was part of the meeting, said it was resolved that unless the decision to transfer the teachers was reversed, the parents would lock the school and submit a written statement to the School Education Department, seeking closure of the school.

The parents said that the teachers of the school had single-handedly increased the student strength from four in 2005 to 65 children now.

Excellent work

Teachers at the school, including S Dharmaraj, who was felicitated by the President on Teacher’s Day in 2016 for his innovative teaching methods, went from door to door enrolling students when the school was on the verge of closure, said a parent.

Department officials said around 700 teachers who took part in the protests had been transferred to different schools, mostly within the Nilgiris district.

Most of the teachers refused to accept their transfer orders, the officials said and added that the process to suspend them had been initiated.