NEWS :- No ‘bandh’ for most city schools, colleges

To attend or not to attend the school on Monday — that is the major question that is bothering parents. With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) giving a ‘Bharat bandh' call on Monday, the decision to attend classes has been left to the students and their parents with most of the schools and colleges not taking a stand on the matter.

Although majority of educational institutions in the city have not taken a stand on whether to close down the school, authorities say attendance is not compulsory. Reasons for lack of clarity over the issue flows from higher
levels with the district collector's office not issuing any notice to the education department. District collector
Praveen Darade said that all the schools, colleges and government offices would remain open and no orders had been issued on behalf of the district administration. The police will be on their toes to maintain law and order
situation in the city, he assured.

Assistant principal of Dr Ambedkar College AP Joshi strongly feels that the situation should be dealt with indifference. “There is no need to take a decision. The college will remain open for sure,” he said while adding
that attendance was hardly an issue for families who are reluctant to let their wards travel in city buses, which are
an easy target on such occasions.

However, students of Bhavans BP Vidya Mandir, Civil Lines are a lucky lot. The vice principal of the school has
already announced that the school would remain closed on Monday thus granting a two-day holiday for the students.

Principal of the school Beena Gokhale is currently out of station. Delhi Public School (DPS), Centre Point, KV Kamptee and Somalwar Nikalas are among the many schools that have still not taken a final call on the issue. Principal of DPS A C Chaturvedi said, “Parents will be informed about the school's stand by Sunday evening
through our SMS system.” Principal of Centre Point School, Katol Road, Kana Roy Chaudhuri said, “As long as there is no official circular from the collector, the school is open to all who wish to attend.” Secretary of Somalwar Group of Institutions Prakash Somalwar feels that the bandh is nothing but a publicity stunt by various political party. “It is a routine practice and everyone knows that the prices are not going to come down to normal even after such stunts,” he added.

Pro VC, Nagpur University, G S Parasher said, “The university is still looking into the matter and by Sunday we
shall reach a conclusion. Various exams scheduled for the day would be conducted as per prior plans.”