Akali sarpanch locks school, poor kids study in open

FARIDKOT: The Punjab government should seriously consider awarding elementary level schoolchildren in Faridkot's Araianwala village. These kids came to school on Wednesday to study and did not go back home even when the village's Akali sarpanch locked them out of the school building over some petty dispute between him, the headmaster and a teacher.
The 100-odd kids, mostly from poor backgrounds, preferred to take their lessons in the open till the building was reopened.
It all started a few days ago when headmaster Surinderpal Singh recommended the transfer of teacher Gurjit Singh to another other school allegedly because Gurjit did not get along with him. Teachers' organizations then protested against the transfer and instead demanded transfer of the headmaster. Concerned over the protest, the education department decided to temporarily shift the headmaster to another school.
This angered sarpanch Harcharan Singh and he unilaterally decided that until the headmaster's transfer is cancelled, the school building would be locked. District education officer (elementary) Parminder Singh Brar had to rush to the school and have the lock removed.
Meanwhile, Punjab Students' Union state secretary Rajinder Singh and zonal leader Hardeep Kaur Kotla have demanded stern action against the sarpanch. "He should have thought about students before locking the school," said Rajinder Singh. They said that if a case was not registered against the sarpanch, they would approach the education minister.
Harcharan Singh, however, said, "I acted only to stop the transfer of headmaster as it has been ordered under duress from teachers despite him doing his job."
Faridkot deputy commissioner Mohammad Tayyab said, "The act of locking the school was illegal. The DEO has been directed to take appropriate action against the sarpanch."
DEO Brar told TOI, "The sarpanch was wrong in locking out the students. We had not transferred the school head, but shifted him only temporarily till the issue died down."