Govandi children start petition for schools beyond Std VIII

With no school for Class IX and X students in Shivajinagar area of Govandi, children have come up with a signature campaign signed by local residents to ask for a government-run secondary school in the area.

Govandi's school and college students started the campaign in association Mission 24, an initiative by Apnalaya NGO. The government-run secondary school in Shivajinagar is supposed to serve a population of six lakh.

There are 3 primary schools up to Class VII and two night schools up to Class VIII in five structural buildings in Shivajinagar, Govandi area, and the closest government secondary school for Class IX and X are 5 km away.

According to Apnalaya's Situational Analysis research study, 71 per cent of girls from the area drop out of school after Class VIII. The petition will soon be submitted to Mahesh Palkar, an Education officer at MCGM.

Arbaz Shah, studying in Class XI, said, "Kids from our area start doing labour work right from childhood. I wished to start the petition so that they get higher education and get a chance at a better future, for which a civic-run higher secondary school in the area is much needed. Through this campaign, we have decided to raise our education-related issues to the civic body."

The average income of an individual in Shivajinagar is approximately Rs 7,000 per month due to which children mainly depend on civic-run schools for affordable education.

The signatures are collected through a door to door campaign and information desks stationed in different clusters in Shivajinagar.

"The petition will be submitted to Mahesh Palkar, an Education officer at MCGM. Several meetings took place between Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta and Apnalaya staff with respect to the demands placed under Mission-24," Shivani Khandelwal, member of Apnalaya.

DOOR TO DOOR 

• The signatures are collected through a door to door campaign and information desks stationed in different clusters in Shivajinagar