Kerala high courtKochi: The Kerala high court on Friday ordered to close down Malaparamba Aided Upper Primary School, Kozhikode by June 8. The court also ordered to submit a report after completing the procedures. Home secretary, DGP, collector and commissioner were made party to the case. The court order also mandates removal of all those who hinder procedures by force, even by arrests if necessary.
The aided school came into spotlight after Malaparamba school protection committee, including parents of the students, kept preventing officials led by the assistant education officer (AEO) from entering the the school to execute a high court order allowing its closure.
The court had earlier ordered closure of the school by May 27 and to submit a report. However, when the AEO arrived at the school with the court order to close the school, a group of protesters led by the school protection committee blocked the officials. The protection committee refused to yield despite repeated requests of the AEO to execute the court order. Amid the melee, education minister C. Raveendranath's statement that the school will not be allowed to be shut down brought excitement to the activists. The AEO and the police then retreated following the stiff resistance.
As per the norms of educational rules, the land and the building should be returned to the owner when an aided school is closed. The high court had ordered to return the land and the building under this provision.
Currently 75 students study in the school. The locals are planning to continue protest till the government take over the school.
The manager of the school had moved the high court seeking to close down the institution, saying it had become 'uneconomical' to run the school and that the building had become weak.
