School bandh partial

The fourth state-wide bandh called by students organizations including All India Students Federation (AISF), Students Federation of India (SFI) and Progressive democratic Students Union (PDSU) for closure of educational institutions received a mixed response on schools.

This was the fourth bandh-call within a month since the schools reopened for the 2012-13 academic session in protest of the high fee charged by private educational institutions, gap in supply of school textbooks, and non-implementation of Right to Education Act in the private schools.

Close to 25 per cent schools in the city were closed. However, an incident of vandalism and forceful closure by the members of students organization was reported in Kurnool due to which 10 students were injured and a complaint under trespass was lodged. “We will file a writ petition to exempt schools from the frequent bandhs as the incident at Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy High School can be repeated. Further, schools should be included under Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to protect the future of students,” said S. Sreenivas Reddy, president of Andhra Pradesh Recognised Schools’ Management Association (APRSMA).

“We are protesting against the non-availability of textbooks and non-implementation of GO 91 which regulates school fee as well as the non-implementation of RTE,” said president of SFI Hyderabad, M. Nageswar Rao.