Meeting asks Manipur govt to resolve standoff Lift boycott, cry schools

Meeting asks Manipur govt to resolve standoff

Security personnel keep guard in front of an Imphal school. File picture Imphal, Nov. 16 : Worried over the loss of teaching days and inability to pay their staff, founders, principals and teachers, more than 150 private schools of the state today appealed to the student bodies to lift the class boycott by November 20 even as they decided to resume normal classes from November 21. The meeting at Hafta Kangjeibung in Imphal was organised by the All Manipur Govt Recognised Private Schools’ Welfare Association to discuss the plight of students and schools. A unanimous appeal of a settlement between the agitators and the government was made to restore academic normality. The gathering took place after efforts by the Okram Ibobi Singh government to reopen classes by providing police personnel on the campuses failed to restore normal classes. Classes have been disrupted ever since the public erupted over the July 23 firing in Imphal, allegedly by police in which passerby Rabina Devi and former militant Ch. Sanjit were killed. However, classes were completely paralysed, particularly in the four valley districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal and Bishnupur after the All Manipur Students Union, Manipuri Students Federation and Kangleipak Students Association launched a class boycott campaign since September 9. Today’s meeting also came a day after the three student bodies strongly opposed the announcement by college authorities that student union elections would be held on November 25. A statement issued jointly by the student bodies yesterday termed the announcement of the elections as an act of defiance of the ongoing class boycott agitation. The private schools are worried that they could not hold the minimum classes fixed by the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur and Council of Higher Secondary Schools. For high school leaving examination it is 160 days while for secondary schools it is 180 days. But so far the schools could conduct classes for about 90 days. Usually both the public examinations are held in March. Another worry is that as tuition fees could not be collected from the students in the past three months the schools are finding it tough paying monthly salaries to the teachers and other non-teaching staff. “The class boycott only makes the students, private schools and school van services suffer. It is time to end the class boycott and normalise the academic scene,” L. Rameshchandra Singh, principal of Emmanuel English School in Imphal East, said. All the speakers, mostly principals and founders of the private schools, slammed the Okram Ibobi Singh government for not delivering justice in the July 23 firing case and also called for an amicable settlement between the agitators and the government. The principals also opposed the government’s move to provide armed security to the schools, arguing that this could compound the problems. “The schools may be targeted and the school vans could be attacked. In such a situation, the chances are that the young students would fall victims. So without an amicable settlement normal classes could not be held,” a teacher said.