Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has informed the High Court that students will not be asked to participate in its outreach programme Nava Kerala Sadas. The government assured the court that the orders issued by the Education Department asking children to participate in the programme will be withdrawn by Monday.
The government's move comes in the back of the controversy where students were made to stand under the blazing sun to greet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other ministers attending the Nava Kerala Sadas. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has registered a case in connection with the incident.
The government expressed its stand on a petition filed by Philip Joseph, a resident of Kasaragod, questioning the actions of the education department officials. The government has also assured the court that it will withdraw the order of the director of public education seeking school buses for transportation during the Nava Kerala Sadas programme.
Students, including lower primary kids, were made to stand in the sun despite a strict directive against doing so without the permission of the Department of Education. There is also a stricture saying students should not be made to stand in the open for more than seven minutes even for school assemblies.
The students were lined up by the road by around 11 am at 32-32 degrees Celsius to greet the chief minister and his cabinet of ministers proceeding to the Nava Kerala Sadas at Panur in the Koothuparamba Assembly constituency from Thalassery. The children waited under the sun till the chief minister's motorcade passed through the spot at noon.
