Many student unions and anti-caste forums of Puducherry have condemned a recent move by the state government to rename three government schools in the Union Territory with the names of leaders, retaining their caste titles. The student unions and anti-caste organizations have requested the government to remove the caste titles or rename them with names of freedom fighters since the move will lead to discrimination among students.
In a Government Order issued on December 16, the Puducherry Government instructed the head of three schools to furnish the details of the leaders of the concerned schools for renaming the schools in national/local leader names on or before December 21.
The Deputy Director of Education M Nadansabapathi proposed to rename Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Madukkarai to V Venkatasubba Reddiar Government Girls Higher Secondary School based on the name of former Chief Minister of Puducherry.
The Deputy Director also proposed to rename Government Primary School, Madukkarai to MR Subharaya Kavundar Government Primary School in Maducarai based on former MLA’s name and Government High School, Mettupalayam as R Seenuvasan, Government High School, Mettupalayam.
Condemning the decision, Puducherry President of Student Federation of India, Jayaprakash said, “Recently, caste-related fights are reported from schools of Puducherry and at this time the government should be committed to eradicate caste. However, the government has now decided to name the government schools along with caste titles of the leaders. This is condemnable.”
The tenure of the Congress-led government is going to end in the Union Territory so they are trying to rename the schools with names of Congress leaders, he added. “We do not condemn the move to rename the schools but we do not want the government to promote caste names. The recent decision will only promote the students to follow caste and create discrimination among students,” he alleged.
Following the order, the student unions also wrote to the Puducherry Chief Minister Narayanasamy to withdraw the move.
In the letter, the Student Federation of India said, “In Puducherry, the government instead of renaming already existing names of schools with caste tiles, the Congress-led government has followed the same practice by proposing caste titles along with the names.”
“The Puducherry government should immediately get back the order. We also request the government to impart education that will pay way to brotherhood, unity and secularism,” the letter said.
The Untouchability Eradication Front has also been conducting protests urging the government to remove caste names from the proposed names.
Ramasamy of Untouchability Eradication Front said, “The society is already following casteism and the renaming is just a reiteration of caste. This will adversely impact teachers and students. This can even lead to teacher-student discrimination or students may discriminate their counterparts.”
