Kozhikode: Mohammed Asim, who has 90 per cent physical disability, is launching an agitation demanding a high school near his house. Born without both arms, Asim is a bright student and has completed his seventh standard. He wants the Velimanna government Mappila UP school, where he studied till Class 7, to be upgraded as a high school. Asim is taking out a march to the Collectorate along with the local people for the purpose.
The youngster, who draws pictures with his toes, has been attending classes and carrying out his other academic activities with the help of his parents. A winner of the state government’s ‘Ujwala Balyam’ award which was presented in January, Asim is now staring at an uncertain future.
Back in August 2015, the then chief minister Oommen Chandy had upgraded the Velimanna government Mappila LP school to a UP school based on a memorandum submitted by Asim. As he cannot continue in the school after having completed his seventh standard Asim wrote to the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan urging him to start high school classes in the institution. Even though the AEO recommended to the government that the school could be upgraded, the request was turned down. With no other option left, Asim and the local people have taken to the path of agitation. Earlier, on March 26, they had formed a human wall on the premises of Velimanna school as part of their stir.
Now, a march and sit-in strike are being organized in front of the Collectorate to be inaugurated by Sheikh Davood, the nephew of former president A P J Abdul Kalam and trustee of Kalam Foundation.
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Velimanna is an underdeveloped area in Omassery grama panchayat. There is no high school in a radius of five km and if the school is upgraded, students in six other wards in Omassery as well as four wards in nearby panchayats will benefit. Moreover, there are 22 scheduled caste colonies and a scheduled tribe colony in the area, said action committee office-bearers Sartaj Ahmmed Velimanna and Mohammed Abdul Rasheed.
Read: Kozhikode News | Kerala News
