Kerala’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has withdrawn a controversial order by the District Education Officer (DEO) in Malappuram’s Tirurangadi, who had earlier directed headmasters of state-run schools in the district to ensure the attendance of 100 to 200 students at the government’s mass outreach programme Nava Kerala Sadas. The move comes after the Kerala High Court, based on a petition filed by the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), directed the state education department on Friday, November 24, not to forcibly send students of up to Class 12 to attend the event. While hearing the petition, the court asked the officials whose favour they were trying to garner with an order such as this.
During a meeting of teachers and the DEO at Parappanangadi last week, the top education official had triggered a controversy last week by asking government school authorities in the district to take “well-disciplined students” to the Nava Kerala Sadas venues. This was following another order that was issued to the schools by the Director of General Education, asking them to release their buses for the government event. This order was also withdrawn on Monday, after the court directed the department to do so in the wake of a petition filed by Kasaragod native Philip Joseph.
The new controversies had come in the wake of an existing row concerning the Nava Kerala Sadas, when several schoolchildren including students of primary classes were made to stand under the scorching sun to greet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other ministers. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had registered a case in connection with the incident, after the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) filed a complaint against the authorities for cruelty to children.
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