From J-K camps to border villages, most drop out

At Devipur camp, where 885 families live, 11 schools have been shifted to border villages at Girgriyal, Pallanwalla, Panchtoot, SaintGarh and Hamirpur. At Ramnagar camp, which has 665 families, all five schools have been shifted despite resistance. For five days, Bimla Devi (56), a member of the school committee, had kept the only room of the school, Milli di Khui, locked to prevent the shifting.

The journey to schools gets more difficult with only a few buses plying on the route. ‘‘The first bus comes at 7.30 am. If we miss this, the next one arrives after an hour,,’’ says Bindu Minhas, a Class VI student. No wonder, the dropout rate, which was already 50 per cent, is slipping further, says Sankit Kumar of the Catholic Service Society that runs classes in the camps.

The administration, however, defends its decision. ‘‘A survey of border villages was conducted, and the schools were reopened only in villages where people have returned,’’ says J-K Education Director Hardesh Kumar Singh. He adds that the primary schools at Dhar and Chapriyal have not been shifted. While the former has only five students, the latter is located in a ditch between the fencing and LoC.

Baldev Singh, chairman of Border Migrant Committee, says, ‘‘The opening of schools in border villages is an indirect attempt to send the migrants back without giving them any aid.’’