News: Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (RD/VA)
Bantwal, Jun 9: One hundred and fourteen students who were affected due to closure of Shastriji High School, Punacha, near here, by education department citing unauthorized status of school building on Monday June 7 are exploring the chances to seek admissions in schools elsewhere since Tuesday June 8.
At the backdrop of uncertainty over functioning of Shastriji High School, a meeting of parents of students was convened at Punacha, with the view to decide the future of so many students. The meeting was held in the presence of Bantwal Block Education Officer K Sudhakar. Congress leaders Bondala Jagannath Shetty, M S Mohammed and others offered their suggestions.
Majority of students opted for Bulerikatte School. The parents of students completely opposed the suggestion of BEO Sudhakar that students seeking admissions for Class VIII can approach the authorities of Ajjibettu School, because it lies about four to five kilometers away from Punacha.
At last, BEO Sudhakar made arrangements to admit the students seeking to enroll for Class VIII at Bulerikatte with consent from their parents. The parents of over 80 students agreed to seek admissions at Bullerikatte School. The school governing council office bearers Raghav Poojary, Madappa Shetty, Ravikiran Punacha and others were involved in the talks with BEO Sudhakar. The aspirations of many students to study at Shastriji High Schools remained unfulfilled.
The shutting-down of Shastriji High School was the result of family dispute within Shastry lineage, which was worsened by the politics. The issues that plagued the Shastry family over the administration of Shastriji High School reached a decisive point on Monday June 7. All those who thought would win faced defeat. Meanwhile, those who thought they won were not completely happy. The sufferers are the students whose aspirations to study in a nearby school were shuttered and hope that they will overcome the hurdles of long commuting in order to study and shape their bright future.