School appeal: Hold meetings on Sundays

Updated on: Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Kolkata: This 129-year-old school is now repenting the decision of its former authorities to set it up near the Esplanade crossroads. In a little over a month, the school has had to shut its gates on four working days because of disruptions caused by rallies and strikes.

When Loreto Dharamtolla announced yet again to its students on Friday that the school would remain closed on Monday because of the Left Front’s mahamichhil, it left students and teachers extremely upset.

Sister Mercy, the principal of the school, wished to appeal to the “good offices” of all political parties and other associations to hold all rallies on Sundays and also to refrain from calling bandhs.

“I know they have their agenda to follow and hence, these rallies. But this is wreaking havoc on our routine. We are located bang in the business district and hence, suffer the most. But I’m sure most other schools, especially those that are located in the central part of the city, are also affected by the bandhs and michhils. I am sure our leaders are good human beings and would appreciate our problems and from next time, hold their rallies on Sundays. They will do our kids a great service by doing this,” Sister Mercy emphasized.

Knowing the kind of disruption the Trinamool Congress-backed Shahid Divas rally causes every year on July 21, the school has been staying closed on that day for some years now. But this year, trouble started with the sudden Congress-sponsored bandh on July 17, which was closely followed by the Trinamool rally. On July 25, the school again had to bow to a day’s flash strike called by bus, taxi, auto and contract carriage operators. The Left rally on Monday came as a shocker yet again.

The school starts at 8 am and finishes by 2.20 pm. On a rally day, kids might manage to come to school, but neither can classes be conducted properly because of the din created by loudspeakers fitted at the Esplanade junction, nor can they go home in peace because of the traffic disarray.

“On Thursday itself, the pool car people came and told us they would not be able to ply their vehicles on Monday because the rally would cause massive traffic disruption. So we didn’t want to take chances and did exactly what we did in case of the Trinamool-backed rally — declare a holiday. But in doing so, we had to reschedule a whole lot of tests, laboratory work and tutorials. In the junior classes, this might still not matter much, but what about the senior girls who are rushing to complete their syllabi,” she asked.

The school has decided to work on Saturday to make up for the loss. However, this hardly helps because a large number of children have their weekends planned in advance and decide to stay away. “But we have now made it official that whenever there’s a rally or a bandh, the following Saturday automatically becomes a working day

School appeal: Hold meetings on Sundays

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