Shivani Bhaku
Ludhiana, 24 January
Students of the Boys’ Government Senior Secondary School (School of Eminence) at Jawahar Nagar here have been asked to carry sandbags to a construction site instead of going to classes a few days before the board exams.
It may be mentioned that this is the third or fourth day in a row that students have been asked to do so as construction work is going on in the school.
“We send our children to study but they are asked to work like labourers,” said a parent on condition of anonymity. If the government has to run the school, it should employ the workers. A class X student said that there is no harm in doing this work for the school but they need to focus on studies as the board exams are around the corner.
The student added, “We have so many doubts that need to be cleared, our uniforms get dirty while carrying sandbags but we do what our teachers tell us to do.
However, the teachers remained silent on the issue. When contacted in this regard, Principal Kuldeep Singh said that construction of new toilets is underway. When asked about the students working as labourers, he denied the allegations. But after seeing the pictures, he said that he will investigate the matter. DEO (Secondary) Dimple Madan was not available for comment despite repeated attempts on the matter.
