The Tribune impact: Edu Dept to upgrade high school at Kheri Gandian

Mohit Khanna

Patiala, July 25

The distance would no longer pose a hindrance between girls and their education. The Tribune highlighted the rise in the number of school dropouts among girls living in 10 villages located near Rajpura town. As a result, the District Education Officer (DEO) (Secondary) Sanjeev Sharma visited Government High School in Kheri Gandian village today and decided to upgrade it to a senior secondary school.

Education department officials met the representatives of the villages who had flagged the problem of rising dropouts as the nearest senior secondary school was 14 to 16 km away — Kauli village or Rajpura town — and the journey was long and fraught with risks.

Following the meeting, it was decided to upgrade the high school to senior secondary so that distance was not a hindrance to education. MP Dharamvira Gandhi had also promised to offer a bus service to ferry girls to and from school.

DEO Sanjeev Sharma visited the Government High School in Kheri Gandian today. Accompanied by other officials of the education department, Sharma met with village representatives who had raised concerns about the dropout rates. It was unanimously decided to upgrade Kheri Gandian High School to a senior secondary school. The resolution was collectively signed by representatives of eight villages.

DEO Sharma stated that under the directions of Deputy Commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray, the team visited the school and engaged with local leaders, including the Sarpanch.

The DEO said the school headmaster, Naib Singh, had been tasked with completing the necessary formalities and submitting an application for the upgrade.

Village residents gathered at the school and said girls missed employment opportunities due to the rising rate of dropouts. They said it had an impact on their matrimonial prospects too.

Rajiv Kumar and Jaswant Singh of Kheri Gandian village and Amarjeet Singh, Sarpanch of Bhadak village, expressed gratitude to The Tribune for bringing the issue to light. They said the village girls would benefit from having a senior secondary school close to their homes, as they would no longer have to make a perilous journey to faraway schools.

Santosh Kumar, Sarpanch of Gajipur, and Dalbir Singh of Dhendsa village shared similar sentiments.