Hill schools plan registration camp

TT, Siliguri, July 23: The authorities of 60-odd schools affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination in the hills are planning to hold special camps in Siliguri to initiate the registration of students in classes IX and XI.

It will be a huge task for the schools to ensure logistics and security at the camp and assemble around 4,000 students from the hills and different other parts of Bengal and even abroad, though.

The registration that enables the students to appear for Class X and Class XII board exams next year has been held up because of the ongoing shutdown in the hills and the resultant ban on Internet. The general strike has already completed five weeks, while the Internet clampdown has been extended till July 25.

"We have to finish the registration process latest by mid-August. Given the present state of affairs, there is no other option for us than opening a camp in Siliguri," said a senior teacher of a CISCE school in the hills.

Of the 4,000 students who need to be registered, around 60 per cent stay in the hills. The rest are boarders who haven't returned to the schools even after the summer vacation because of the strike.

However, the registration process cannot be done in Siliguri as easily.

"We will have to get local students downhill and call the boarders to Siliguri for the registration. It won't be so easy to bring all of them here. From this year, the council has made it mandatory for the students to provide Aadhaar card number during the registration. There are many local students who do not have the card. We have to help them get Aadhaar numbers," said another teacher.

In case the schools finalise the proposal for the camp, they will have to approach the administration for help.

"The schools will require a sizeable area with Internet connectivity for the registration. It should be such a place where the students can reach easily and get their registration done. For those who don't have Aadhaar cards, there has to be a kiosk or help desk where they can enroll themselves for the document. There should also be security personnel at the camp. For all these arrangements, we need help from the administration," a source said.

On July 14, the representatives of most of the schools had held a meeting here and decided to take up with the Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee (GMCC) informally their concerns over the registration process.

"The GMCC took no decision in their favour at its meeting on July 18 and instead, went ahead with the indefinite shutdown," the principal of a school in Kurseong, said.