Hills teachers’ silent rally sends out loud message

A few hundred teachers from private and government-run schools in Kurseong taking part in the rally on Saturday.(HT Photo)

TNN | Sep 17, 2017, DARJEELING/KOLKATA: Friday's attack by pro-Gorkhaland bandh enforcers on a Kalimpong school vehicle ferrying an ailing Thai student to hospital had two fallouts the day after — both firsts since the total shutdown started in the Hills on June 15.

One, it brought principals and teachers of private and government-run educational institutions out on the streets of Kurseong on Saturday. The rally — the first by a group of citizens not united under any political banner against the total shutdown — was silent but sent out a strong message, which placed education above politics: "Gorkhaland is our constitutional right but education is our fundamental right."

Two, the school where the ailing 15-year-old Thai student stays and studies mustered the courage to conduct examinations — again, for the first time since the bandh started — for students of classes IX to XII on Saturday. And, in what came as a pleasant surprise for the school authorities, even day scholars — students who stay in Kalimpong — came to school for the exams.

"We were surprised by the participation of so many day scholars," St Augustine's School principal Father Gerard Lepcha said. Parents of students said what the principal could not say on record: the school probably would not have mustered the courage to do this if it had not been pushed to the wall by the attack on a school vehicle carrying an ill student to hospital.

The Kurseong rally, however, had wider ramifications. People, used to seeing only rallies for Gorkhaland, were taken by surprise when around 250 teachers, principals, directors and staff of different schools of Kurseong reached the railway station from the tourist lodge around 11.30 a.m.

No one chanted a single slogan but the placards they carried sent out the message loud and clear. A teacher, who did not wish to be named, said: "We know that the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state is our constitutional right and is justified. But education is our fundamental right and should not be trampled for the sake of our constitutional demand."

Hills schools have imparted quality education for decades and boarding schools run by Christian missionaries have been patronised by both Indians and foreigners, who prefer to send their children here as much for the grooming they provide as for what is taught as part of the curriculum. But frequent political disturbances, especially strikes, have had a debilitating impact on the education system in the region.

Many school heads may sympathise with the demand for a separate state but now they want the education sector to be kept out of the purview of the strike just like emergency services. 

"This rally is not affiliated to any political issue or organisation but demands peace and normalcy. Schools are temples of learning. We only want students to get proper and uninterrupted education, which is our fundamental right. Parents should feel safe to send their wards to schools. Educational institutions should be given exemptions from strikes like other emergency services," St Anthony's Boarding School principal Chetan Tiwari said.

Himali Boarding School director Robindra Subba lamented that the image of the Hills, especially of Kurseong as an educational destination, had been hit beyond repair because of strikes. "Darjeeling and Kalimpong are more popular as tourist destinations but Kurseong is an education hub. Frequent strikes are taking their toll on the Hills as an education destination. We were just getting back to our feet from previous strikes. The situation is such that we fear we will never be able to restore our image as an education destination and convince parents to send their children to the Hills," he said.

Kurseong is home to around 25 government and private schools, which attract students from across the country as well as from Thailand, Dubai, Nepal and Bangladesh.