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Journalism of Courage
“Hearty and warm welcome to all our beloved students. May God bless you with wisdom and knowledge and success as you continue your studies in the academic year 2025-26” — read the banner in the school, where students were returning after nearly six weeks, getting to their classrooms through metal detectors and layers of security put up by the Ahmedabad city police and two private agencies. Teachers were seen offering chocolates to the students.
On August 20, a Class 10 student of the school died of injuries in a hospital a day after he was allegedly stabbed by a batchmate. A mob later vandalised the premises and the school was shut down on the orders of the District Education Officer (DEO), leading to online classes for its over 10,000 students.
On Friday, as students gathered for the assembly, they placed flowers on the 16-year-old dead student’s portrait put up by the school. The student who is accused of stabbing him is in a remand home. The boys are suspected to have had an altercation a week before the fatal assault.
On Day One, the school was leaving nothing to chance. A vigilant security guard asked a 16-year-old boy, stepping out of class alone: “Who has come to pick you?”. His mother screamed from the school gate, “I’m right here”.
The 45-year-old school in the Khokhra area of Ahmedabad was coming to terms with a new reality.
By 12:30 pm on Friday, the number of vehicles parked outside the school in Khokhra rose as parents arrived to pick up their students after the first day of offline teaching at the school after 43 days.
The exam calendar ran through the anxious conversations of the parents — half-yearlies, the upcoming Diwali break meaning “more classes lost”, the second revision test and the prelims just before the boards–with some suggesting a shorter Diwali break for extra classes.
The Class 10 and 12 students who attended school on the first day looked gloomy, but their parents were relieved with the reopening of the school with the board exams just six months away. They also heaved a sigh of relief after seeing security measures at the school. Women and men in khakis were also swarming the premises.
The DEO has permitted offline teaching only for students of Class 10 and 12 following an order by the Gujarat High Court by September-end.
According to the DEO, the decision on resuming offline classes for other students will be taken after a week, based on the report of the observers appointed to the school.
On Friday, the attendance at the school was low – only 20% students attend classes according to the education department officials – which can be attributed not only to psychological impact of the incident but also to the upcoming weekend and just completed Navratri festivities.
At the front yard of the school, only two gates were opened while the other two, including the one through which the deceased student had allegedly stumbled in after the attack, were locked.
In a central decoration lamp surrounded by flowerpots, CCTV cameras followed the movements of everyone in the compound.
Alert security guards kept only a small portion of the gates open, questioning everyone attempting to go in and out of the premises.
Most parents who spoke to The Indian Express, expressed relief that their children, who were preparing for their Board exams, were finally back at the school.
Most of them expressed satisfaction with the security and police presence. Some of them dismissed the stabbing as a “one-off incident” and said that hundreds of other students should not suffer because of the “unfortunate tragedy”.
A parent of a Class 10 student, who had taken a lunch break from work to pick up his son from school said, “I’m glad that classes have finally resumed. Online classes cannot replace direct classes. The students have their board exams and need to study hard for it.”
Ahmedabad City DEO Rohit Chaudhary had on September 29 said that there are about 10,800 students enrolled in the school while 500 had collected School Leaving Certificates (LCs) following the student’s death in August.
Another woman who picked up her son said the security seemed alright to her. Turning to other mothers at the school, she said that their children had been waiting to return to school.
A man, who had come to pick up his grandson, welcomed the resumption of offline classes. “What happened was unfortunate… We decided to continue his studies here because it will be difficult for him to adapt to a new school fast, that too in his board exam year,” he said.
Parents hope that the school will plan some special classes for the students to make up for the loss of the direct classes for over a month.
Following the death of the 15-year-old student on August 20, a mob attacked the school, destroyed its property and attacked the teachers and other staff. The police filed three FIRs – one booking the juvenile for murder, second against the mob for rioting, and third against the principal for failing to inform authorities about the incident.
After the incident, the DEO office began an investigation and ordered heightened security measures at the school as suggested by a group of parents and appointed two Class-2 officers as observers at the institute, which also has a college on the campus.
Speaking to The Indian Express on Friday, DEO Rohit Chaudhary, citing the slim attendance of 20 per cent on Day One, said more confidence building measures are necessary to bring students back to the school. “After representations from parents, we allowed the school to begin classes for Class 10 and 12 students with an undertaking that it will be the school’s responsibility if any untoward incident takes place,” Chaudhary said.
Asked about the security measures mandated for the school, he said, “The classes have started after the school installed 60 new CCTV cameras, opened a dispensary in the school with a nurse, and arranged an ambulance on standby. They have added 35 security guards. The management has also been asked to put up a partition between the school and college buildings. We have also asked the school to counsel the students and impart first aid and fire safety training to its staff.”
Asked about the school day on Friday, Chaudhary said, “The students had a moment of silence in memory of the student who lost his life. A multi-religious prayer was held and then the students began their studies.”
The DEO said, “The investigation is underway, and the school has still not submitted the documents sought by the education department after two notices. If they don’t submit the documents after the third notice, which we will dispatch shortly, we will initiate action.”
Meanwhile, sources at the school said that feelings among the faculty are that the school is being “unfairly targeted” by the education department for the “unfortunate incident”.
When asked if the high security standards set for this particular school would be made mandatory for other schools in Ahmedabad as well, DEO Chaudhary said, “Because of the tragic incident that took place here, we need to ensure the safety and security of students. We can take a call on the other schools… later.”
When asked if the school would be allowed to start offline teaching for other classes, the DEO said that the department would take a call after one week based on the suggestions of the observers.
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