Aizawl: Students from Thingsulthliah Higher Secondary School, a remote educational institution in Mizoram, are gearing up to embark on a challenging 10-hour journey by foot to Aizawl, the state capital. Their mission is to demand the upgrade of their school from the lumpsum grant-in-aid category to adhoc-grant-in-aid status.
The students, represented by the Thingsulthliah Higher Secondary School Students Union, are planning to commence their journey tomorrow, setting off at the break of dawn. They intend to make their way to Aizawl over the course of the day, with an estimated arrival time of around 3 to 4 p.m.
Their primary objective during this journey is to personally deliver a letter of appeal to the Chief Minister and the Education Minister, urging them to fulfil a long-standing promise to elevate their school’s status.
Laldinpuia, President of the Thingsulthliah Higher Secondary School Students Union, expressed the students’ deep-seated concerns to EastMojo, saying, “Our parents work tirelessly as daily wage earners to cover our school fees, and it has become an immense burden for them. We have been neglected for far too long and want the government to adopt our school.”
The students have received strong support from the school’s teachers, who said they endorse their decision. They said they hope that the Chief Minister and Education Minister will take notice of the effort put in by the students and grant what has been promised to them. The promise to upgrade the school to ad hoc-grant-in-aid status was made as a pre-poll commitment.
Thingsulthliah Higher Secondary School, with a current enrollment of 156 students and a staff of 13, was established in 2004 and transitioned to the lumpsum grant-in-aid category in 2008.
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Earlier this month, residents of three villages, where the students are enrolled, displayed black flags outside their homes in solidarity with the students’ cause.
Thingsulthliah Higher Secondary School is among the nine schools for which the Chief Minister and other ministers had assured adhoc-grant-in-aid status as a pre-poll promise in 2018. The 41-day closure of these schools in 2018 was part of the demand the present ruling government pledged to fulfil if elected.
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