Told to leave school,students protest

MP Murli Deora,Colaba MLA Annie Shekhar and corporator Vinod Shekhar met Major General RK Huda,General Officer Commanding (GOC) Maharashtra,Goa and Gujarat on Wednesday following the protest.

Vinod Shekhar said,“We are trying to resolve the matter. It is a question of around 1,500 students. Security concerns are there but we have suggested that the armed forces check the credentials of the parents and students.” Shekhar said they would be meeting again on Thursday.

Guru Nanak High School is situated in a military-residential area. According to parents,the armed forces want only children of armed forces personnel to be allowed entry.

Currently,there are very few children of armed forces personnel studying at the school and majority of the students belong to poor families of nearby areas. “We had protested in April too but we were assured by the school authorities that the school would be given at least two years to allow parents to look for admissions elsewhere. That is why we did not look for admissions elsewhere. But now we do not know what to do. Taking admission at any other school is not possible as the session has already begun,” said a parent Ajay Salpe whose son has been a student of the school since kindergarten and is now in eighth standard.

Meanwhile,the school authorities have informed parents not to send their wards to school till Saturday when a decision is likely. Students have been asked to come to school on Monday.

According to Captain M Nambiar,public relations officer,Ministry of Defence,the security has been beefed up in that area particularly after the December terror attacks. He said,“Parents were informed two months ago that they would have to shift their children to other schools. This is a sensitive area and only students who have defence IDs,that is children of defence personnel can be allowed inside the premises.”