Jalandhar, October 11
Call it a dearth of dedicated teaching staff, apathy of the Central government or the district administration’s convenient ignorance of the situation, the Prayas School for Mentally Disabled Children run by the Red Cross Hospital Welfare Society has clearly fallen on bad days.

The staff strength of the school is almost half of what it was last year and it has clearly taken a toll on the number of students at the school. The school, which until last year had 111 students, now has only 75 left.

While it had a staff of 35 persons, including administrative staff, teachers, special educators, specialists and class four, until last year, currently, it has only 19 people on its staff.

There isn’t a single special educator in the school and the number of specialists has also decreased from three to one.

In a dearth of special educators, the classes at the school are being taken by teachers who have not received any training on how to deal with special children.

About four years ago, the school had eight special educators, last year it had four and currently, none.

The most dramatic downfall is in the number of teachers. While there were 20 until last year, presently, there are only five.

The five teachers present, too, divide time between the vocational classes (which the school also holds) and those for special students.

The school hostel also has only four housemothers for 43 special children putting up at the hostel. While there were three specialists at the school last year, presently, only two pay a visit to the school.

Last year, the school had a speech therapist, a neurotherapist and a physiotherapist (two of the therapists were visiting students five days a week). But right now, the school has only two specialists - one neurotherapist and one physiotherapist - who visit students only thrice a week.

The school currently has no principal or director, either, as it formerly did.

Notably, the guidelines of the Rehabilitation Council of India clearly state that any institution, which provides education to special students, cannot run without special educators. But in this case, there is clearly an utter disregard to law.

Parents of the special children said: “The kind of care and the special need can only be fulfilled by specially trained teachers and in dearth of special educators, it sometimes even adversely impacts the treatment and psyche of the child”.

Talking about the drastic decrease in student and staff strength at the school, Ranjana Bansal, honorary secretary of the Red Cross Hospital Welfare Society, which runs the Prayas School, said: “One of the most pertinent reasons for the lack of special educators at the school is the lack of proper salary. All special educators employed with us have subsequently left the job because they are being paid merely Rs 3,500 per month. Some people tell us that they are applying for the job only for experience and will quit after a few months because no special educator will like to work on this salary.”

Talking about the decreased student strength, she said: “We cannot deny that the lack of staff has something to do with the decreased student strength. In fact, the student strength has slightly increased in the past few months due to our efforts. Earlier, it was even lesser.”

“We have asked the authorities to talk to the Centre about ensuring better salaries for our special educators so that they will prefer this job,” Bansal added.

Jalandhar, October 11
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced that a sprawling 1,500-acre mega education city would soon come up at Mullanpur near Chandigarh to give further impetus to the quality higher education in the state.

The proposed education city would house eminent world-class educational institutions and universities in humanities, medical, pharmaceutical, engineering, etc., to impart state-of-the-art education to the students of the country as well as from other parts of the world.

Delivering his inaugural address at the third “Bhartiya Vigyan Sammelan and Expo-2012”, organised by Lovely Professional University (LPU) in collaboration with Punjab Technical University and the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST), the Chief Minister said education was on the priority list of the state government.

The event was dedicated to eminent mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan who is part of a rich Indian heritage of mathematics with other luminaries like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Bhaskara and Sankara who created and built upon the foundations of science.

Appreciating the initiative of LPU, PTU and PSCST for holding the four-day mega conference, Badal said it would go a long way in inculcating scientific and technical fervour among the youth through interaction with not only scientists, technocrats, academicians, policy makers, research scholars and students from “structured organisations,” but also with innovative farmers, technicians and artisans.

The Chief Minister lauded the stupendous efforts of the management of the LPU team and the university Chancellor Ashok Mittal in creating a huge infrastructure on a par with any educational institute of international repute. He pointed out that this world-class institute over an area of 600 acres was the outcome of sheer commitment and dedication to spread quality education in every nook and corner of the country.

“I am confident that the valuable inputs and suggestions given by the delegates to the Punjab Government would be seriously viewed in the formulation and implementation of the future plans, programmes for the provision of safe drinking water, cleaning of ponds, besides treatment of industrial effluents effectively for irrigation purposes,” said Badal.

In his welcome address, Ashok Mittal, Chancellor of LPU, expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for his unstinted support in creation of this campus university with intake of about 30,000 students from 28 states and 26 countries across the globe.

He assured Badal that the university would continue its endeavour to impart the education of highest international standards to the students in future also.

On the occasion, Dr Rajneesh Arora, Vice-Chancellor of PTU, hoped that the conference would offer a healthy platform to scientists, researchers and academicians to give their vital inputs to enhance the standard of scientific and technological education in the country.

Others who were present on the occasion included Cabinet Minister Chunni Lal Bhagat, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries - Som Parkash and KD Bhandari, Mayor Sunil Jyoti, principal secretary, Technical Education, SS Channy, Special Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Pro-Chancellor, LPU, Rashmi Mittal, Chairman of LPU Ashok Mittal and LPU V-C Ramesh Kanwar.

Jalandhar, October 11
A team of the Labour Department rescued a minor girl, Sheela, working as a domestic help from the house of a garment trader at Pholariwal village here today.

The rescue operation was carried out on the complaint of the NGO, Bachpan Bachao Andolan.

The house owners were identified as Sonu and Mamta.

A team comprising labour inspectors Kunwar Dabur and Bimla Kumari conducted a raid at the house today afternoon, following which the girl was rescued.

Talking to The Tribune, labour officials said: "The age of the girl is said to be about 10 years. But it hasn't been ascertained as yet because the medical examination of the girl will take place tomorrow".

Notably, while the HC guidelines state that a district task force comprising medical specialists, a police officials, etc., is supposed to accompany Labour Department officials whenever a child labour rescue operation is conducted, the District Labour Department typically sent only two labour inspectors to conduct the raid.

Labour officials said since the work the girl was carrying out was not hazardous, the department could only challan the owners.

"However, the owners have also told us that they have a proof that the girl was pursuing regular studies. They said they will bring the proof tomorrow, so we will look into it. Otherwise, they will be challaned," labour inspector Kunwar Dabur said.

The medical examination of the girl will also be carried out tomorrow to ascertain her age.

Dinesh Kumar, activist of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, said: "While an owner employing a child below 14 years is presently a bailable offence (due to being non-hazardous), the HC directions are clearly violated every time a district task force fails to turn up for an operation. An FIR should have been lodged against the house owners."

"We have shot a video of the girl, Sheela, working in two households in the area. While she was working at the said household during afternoon hours, she was working at a schoolteacher's home in the morning. On the basis of the video proof, we will also demand that an FIR be filed against the owners," he added.

ALC Inderjit Singh Sidhu refused to comment on the issue, saying he was not in Jalandhar today.

Jalandhar, October 11
A woman was killed and her daughter sustained injuries when the scooter they were riding on was knocked down by a private bus adjacent to the local Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) today afternoon.

Sushpal Kaur and her daughter, Pushpreet Kaur, residents of Urban Estate Phase-I, were on their way to tehsil on the scooter when a private passenger bus knocked down their vehicle.

Pushpreet with her mother in pillion was riding the scooter when the accident took place, the police said.

In a statement to the police, Karanjit Singh, husband of the deceased, said as the bus hit the scooter, his daughter lost the control of the vehicle, following which her mother fell down and was crushed under the bus. She died on the spot.

Soon after the mishap, people assembled at the site and informed the police about the incident. However, the bus driver managed to escape from the spot, the police said.

The body has been sent to the local Civil Hospital for postmortem.

The police has impounded the vehicles and a case of rash and negligent driving has been registered against the driver of the bus at Police Station Division No -7.

Jalandhar, October 11
A former teacher and a student of a local private air hostess training institute alleging sexual harassment by the institute owner got their statements recorded with the city police.

The duo yesterday had made a written complaint to Commissioner of Police Gaurav Yadav against A.P. Singh, owner of the institute, levelling charges of molestation, sexual harassment and blackmailing against him.

The student had also alleged that the owner of the institute had been forcing her to had drinks with him while alluring her with offers in modelling. The duo have also alleged that A.P. Singh had installed hidden cameras in their room and bathroom and even photographed them in a semi-clad position during a trip to a hill station.

Gaurav Yadav had referred the complaint to Sukhdev Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, (Traffic), directing him to record the statements of both the parties.

The ADCP (Traffic), when contacted, said the statements of the women were recorded today. A.P. Singh would be asked to clear his side of the story by tomorrow. Action would be taken after investigating the case transparently, he claimed.

Meanwhile, A.P. Singh today held a press conference and denied the allegations leveled against him. Refuting the allegations, he said the teacher, who was shown the doors by the institute management following her "immoral" activities, had been trying to tarnish his image as well as of the institute. She had been using the girl as a tool.

The girl, who was a close associate of the teacher, was also asked to leave the PG accommodation after she indulged in activities like calling her male friends to the PG accommodation for night stay, alleged AP Singh.

Jalandhar, October 11
Flaying khap panchayats and former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala for their statements of lowering marriageable age of girls, leading women of the city said it should not be reduced from the existing 18 years.

Reacting to controversial statement issued by former Haryana Chief Minister and INLD president Om Prakash Chautala in which he had supported the idea of khap panchayats regarding the lowering of marriageable age of girls to 15 to curb the incidents of rape, the leading women said instead the girls should be trained in martial arts and judo and karate for protecting themselves from any sexual assault.

Disagreeing with the statements of khap panchayats and Chautala, Dr Jasleen Sethi, president of the District Mahila Congress (Urban), said: “The marriageable age of girls should not be lowered at all as their productive organs do not develop before 18.”

Terming the khap panchayats and Chautala’s statement as illogical, she said: “Girls are not medically fit for marriage before the age of 18.”

Similarly, Simarjeet Kaur, district president of the Istri Akali Dal, said: “Girls usually pursue their studies at the age of 15. It is unfair to the child to even think about lowering their marriageable age.”

Simarjeet further said: “Instead of thinking of lowering the marriageable age of girls, they should be trained in martial arts and judo and karate for making them confident in giving befitting reply to any sexual attack.”

Urmil Vaid, district president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, said: “Girls are not physically as well as mentally fit for marriage at the age of 15. Instead of thinking of lowering the marriageable age of girls, various steps, including strict action against rapists and setting up of fast-track courts for in-camera hearing of rape cases, should be taken to curb rape incidents.”

Jalandhar, October 11
A crevasse-like crack in the wall of one of the classrooms of Government Middle School, Purian Mohalla, has tormented the staff and students for the past two years.

Overgrown grass at the back of classrooms, snakes sliding around on the premises, a cracked wall in a barely standing room and constant threats of being hurt loom large at Government Middle School, Purian Mohalla, making it one of the classic victims of the apathy of the education department.

The school, situated in the congested Purian Mohalla area, has written time and again to the Education Department in the past two years, asking for “major repairs” in one of its only two classrooms with a cracked wall, but so far repairs have eluded it.

For the school staff, problems are galore.

The school staff has collected over Rs 20,000 in infrastructural contributions (for an obsolete water connection, a supporting wall, to clean up the weed-infested area etc) time and again.

While one classroom is not enough to seat children, the second classroom, which the school staff say (and it looks so) is clearly unsafe, has a wall on one side which looks like it will fall anytime.

A crack traverses across the height of the wall and inside, the classroom has been divided by a supportive wall which has been built specially through staff contributions just to ensure that the cracked wall doesn’t buckle under the pressure of the roof.

Staff says: “While one room is divided, the other does not have enough space to seat all the children, so we have to use the unsafe classroom to seat students.”

With a student strength of 69, the school has only two classrooms and an office which regularly need repairs.

The school has brought this problem to the notice of the department and during the tenure of the previous DEO, an education department team had also clicked photographs of the building, but so far repairs elude the school.

The problems of the school do not end here.

Weeds have grown in the empty land on the back of the classrooms time and again, threatening the safety of the children.

While the district has already seen an insect bite claim the life of a government school student due to overgrown grass, staff say at their school this summer (and rains) has been a rather eventful one.

“At least 5-foot-long snake walked right by the school’s plants on the premises. We also saw snakes in the area where student consumed their mid-day meal”.

School neighbours, about a few months ago, reported to have seen big snakes on the roof of the school office and toilet big enough to cause quite a commotion in the neighbourhood as everyone climbed on rooftops to see the snakes.

It is very unsafe for students to study in a classroom where snakes can come in through cracks.

The staff has also written to the Education Department in the recent report about to be submitted in a couple of days about the problems that students are facing.

While the school staff also sought help from local politicians, they too haven’t been able to help so far, they say.