Empty classrooms, hesitant parents: Days after Nuh violence, schools reopen to low attendance

Speaking to The Indian Express, Dinesh Goyal, a postgraduate teacher (PGT) at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, said: “It’s a social loss, not just economic. Nobody knew of Nuh earlier. Now they do, because of the violence.”

School principal Dr Jitendra Singh agreed: “Teachers from other districts who wanted to come and work here now seem to have changed their decision. This is our biggest loss.”

The school, affiliated to the Haryana Board, caters to students from classes VI to XII. Among those who came were Class XII students Parveen and Alisha, who travelled about 2-3 km from their houses to the school to rehearse for the Independence Day celebrations. Parveen wants to pursue GNM (Nursing), and Alisha wants to prepare for NEET.

Describing the situation in their neighbourhood, Parveen, who is pursuing Arts, said, “Parents are scared, we are scared too. My father is a driver… he leaves the house when police patrol at night.” Alisha agreed.

Parveen added, “I want to be independent, stand on my own feet. Our education has been hampered by schools being closed. We are losing time and with that, opportunities.” “In our neighbourhood, everyone lives in harmony. It is the rioters who have generated fear in the region,” said Alisha.

The drive from the toll booth to Nuh is eerily calm. Police personnel and central forces, including the Rapid Action Force, keep a stringent watch on all vehicles and passersby entering the district. The stretch of the road is lined with demolished houses and shops.

Parents too appear hesitant to send their children to school. “We have about 770 students, however, only 35 turned up. The notice to reopen schools came last evening, and since internet services have been banned, we could not inform parents properly. But some parents know schools have reopened, yet they haven’t sent their children,” said Prithviraj Kaushal, principal of Hindu Vidya Niketan.

On Friday morning, the schools resorted to communicating with parents via a telephone call. “Some of them have left the area and gone to their relatives’ place, students will return once their parents do,” Kaushal said.

Goyal detailed a similar problem: “Principal sir communicated the notice through WhatsApp groups, and we used the school’s WiFi to send this further to students, however, not all of them in the district have access to the internet.”

Highlighting the challenges they are likely to face post the violence, Kaushal added, “One of the challenges we are likely to face is restoring the faith of parents in sending their children back to school — especially those in villages located about 4-5 km away from here. We usually provide a transport service to their locations. We did not start it today, but we will resume the service soon.”

The girls’ school principal said there are about 1,150 students enrolled with them and about 75% show up. Goyal said the transport service — Balika Shiksha Vahini — was sent to the houses of students, but nobody showed their willingness to get on the bus.

“The situation is tense. Rumours have made parents second-guess their decision to send their children to schools,” affirmed Kanchan, a Social Studies teacher at Hindu Vidya Niketan.

Teachers also fear that the violence is likely to impact the education of girls further in the district. “Parents in Mewat usually think education is not so important for girls. This [the violence] is going to have a negative impact on their education,” said Dr Singh.

“Nobody wants to send their daughters to school in such a tense environment,” said Anil Kumar, an English teacher at the girls’ school.

Teachers also highlighted the importance of the month of August for students pursuing higher studies. “It is a very crucial time for those seeking college admissions. The information is accessible to students only over the internet. And since there is no internet and Section 144 is in place, a student I know of had to miss her counselling session,” said Goyal.

Students are not able to procure their school-leaving certificates since schools were shut, Kumar added.

At Government Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School, 300 metres away from the site of violence, teachers pointed to the lack of schools for boys in the district.

The co-ed school, which caters to nearly 500 students from classes VI to XII, was established in 2011. “It was the first high school for boys in Nuh. Earlier, there was one, but only for girls,” said a teacher on condition of anonymity.

“Schools in villages have witnessed low attendance today,” said another teacher.

“There are no government colleges for boys in Nuh, and Haryana Board schools are also missing. There are only two schools for them and they are affiliated to the CBSE. About 80% of our students come from villages located at least 5-10 km from here. About 10% of them come from 20 km away — to gain a formal CBSE education,” the teacher added.