Will Noida schools remain closed on September 16? Officials react to CJP Saurav Das’ claims | Today’s news
Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) spokesperson Saurav Das claimed that all schools in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddha Nagar have been ordered to close after the pressure group conducted infrastructure checks in government schools as part of its statewide ‘School Thik Karo’ (Fix the Schools) campaign.
“All government schools in Gautam Buddha Nagar in UP have been ordered to CLOSE immediately. This is after we checked only ONE SCHOOL in Noida,” Das wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.
“What is the UP government trying to hide?” he asked.
Das claimed that he and his team were denied entry to any other school after inspecting the first one. He further claimed that the principal told them that the decision was taken on the instructions of higher officials.
“We had planned to visit five schools, but we were allowed to visit only one primary school in Garhi Chaukhandi. We were denied entry everywhere else. The school principal told us they had received an order from above not to allow us access,” Das said, according to HT.
“Misleading and untrue”
However, District Inspector of Schools (DIOS) Gautam Buddha Nagar termed the claims as “misleading and false”.
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Speaking to Hindustan Times, an official from the DIOS office said, “All schools in the district are now open. There is no such notification of closure.”
“All the government-run schools in Gautam Buddh Nagar are running as per the schedule prescribed by the government and the education department and no order has been issued regarding the closure of any school,” HT quoted a statement from his office as saying.
During his inspection of schools in Noida, which is part of the CJP’s ongoing school audit campaign in several parts of the country, Das urged the youth to conduct similar audits of government schools in their own areas.
“Today we have come to Noida. As part of our ‘School Theek Karo’ campaign, we will audit some schools here. We will see the conditions under which children are studying. Noida is one of the better districts in UP, so hopefully the school conditions will also be good. Whatever the situation, we will show you the reality,” Das said while talking to the media.
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“We want the UP youth to go and audit the schools too – to show the condition of the schools in their neighborhood and the kind of education the children are getting. Today we are planning to visit the schools in Noida, but we would encourage other youth to also take up this responsibility and audit the schools in their own areas…” Das added.
What is the “School Thik Karo” campaign?
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke launched the ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign last month from his native village Santuk Pimpri in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district, calling for a nationwide social audit of government schools and improving basic facilities for students.
Dipke said the campaign will involve collecting information about basic facilities in government schools across Maharashtra and other parts of the country.
CJP plans to provide a standardized evaluation form through social media that will allow parents and residents to report deficiencies by uploading videos and other information about the schools.
The proposed checklist will cover facilities such as electricity, drinking water, separate functional toilets for boys and girls, benches and quality of mid-day meals.
