People intensify demand for LP School in Kasaragod's Ujampady

Delampady: Residents have stepped up their demand to replace the now-closed single-teacher school (multigrade learning centre) in Ujampady with a Lower Primary (LP) School. Ever since the centre shut down more than two years ago, children in this inter-state border region have had to travel over four kilometres daily to attend school.

The site already has basic infrastructure, including a building with five classrooms, a kitchen, and the largest playground in the panchayat. However, all these facilities have remained abandoned since single-teacher schools were discontinued in 2022 following a State government order. Locals insist that the existing infrastructure should be utilised to upgrade the closed centre into a full-fledged LP School.

More than 100 students from Hidayath Nagar, Munjikkana, Shanthimala, Volthaje, Chaamathadukka, and Ujampady once studied here. Though technically a single-teacher school, the Delampady panchayat had appointed two temporary teachers under its annual plan project to manage the large student strength. At one point, nearly 140 students from classes 1 to 4 were enrolled, point out the local residents.

The school was established in 1995 under the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) along the Karnataka border, with the panchayat providing basic infrastructure. It was closed in 2022 along with other single-teacher schools in compliance with the Right to Education Act. Following the closure, students were forced to shift to Mayyala AUP School, Delampady Government Higher Secondary School, and Menala School at Easwaramangala in Karnataka.

As a result, children now travel 3–5 kilometres every day to reach their schools, while parents, mostly from economically vulnerable families, bear the added burden of vehicle rental costs. Meanwhile,  a writ petition filed by former panchayat president A Mustafa Haji against the closure of the single-teacher school remains pending before the High Court.