9 girls behind school upgrade stir failed class 10

In May, the girls of Gothra village made news when they decided to stage protests demanding that their village achool be upgraded to senior secondary. But of the 19 class 10 girl students who protested, nine failed to clear the exams.

On May 10, around 80 girls, studying in different classes, had decided that they would not go to the school in neighbouring Kanwali village, which is 3km away, to pursue higher education. They claimed that they were subjected to sexual harassment and abuse by boys on the way to the school. They demanded that the school in their village be upgraded to a senior secondary school.

The failed students and parents blamed the teachers for their poor performance. “My daughter was a regular to school and studied hard for her exams but, shock- ingly, she failed. The teachers did not pay attention to the weaker students and those who passed the exam studied on their own,” said Maya Chauhan, whose daughter failed the exam.

Another student said, “It is not easy to strike a balance between studies and household chores. I have to get up at 4am and go to sleep later than 10pm after finishing all the work. I hardly get time to study. Now my parents are planning to get me married as I failed the exam.”

The school administration were quick to blame the students and their protests.

“The girl students who were actively taking part in the protests have failed. I had warned them to focus on studies but they did not study despite being given extra coaching at school,” said Satish Kumar, headmaster.

The villagers, on the other hand, alleged that some miscreants were pushing the girls to go to the authorities and to hold the protest, which were the main reason for the poor results.

“The authorities should probe to why the students failed. There were regular classes but many students did not attend the classes and were planning the protest during their exams,” said Vijay Chauhan, a villager.

THE FAILED STUDENTS AND THEIR PARENTS BLAMED TEACHERS SAYING THEY DID NOT PAY ATTENTION TO WEAKER STUDENTS