School to pitch tents for exam

Nashik: The Mother Ayesha Primary School in Malegaon, which was set ablaze by an irate mob of 30,000 on Friday, will be pitching tents in the school playground to conduct the ongoing exams for the students. The classrooms are in a deplorable condition and cannot accommodate the students.
The school has suffered damage to the the of lakhs of rupees due to the blaze.Thousands of angry residents attacked the school on Friday after the authorities failed to take action against a staff member (24-year-old sweeper) who had allegedly molested a six-year-old girl student in the school premises. Meanwhile, the Malegaon police have arrested 10 persons in this connection and are in the process of nabbing more.
The protesters ransacked and burnt the school down, which resulted in loss of vital school documents, including board examination answer sheets and leaving certificates.
Chairman of the school Rizwan Shaikh said, "Many of the classrooms were damaged and disrupted by the agitated mob. Efforts are taken to clean some of the classrooms and make them available for students who would appear for the annual examination."
The school was in the middle of conducting the annual examination for Classes I to IX and XI when the incident took place on April 8. Around 1,200 students are expected to appear for the school annual examination during the next four days, Shaikh said.
He further said that while some of the classrooms have been cleaned, a large number of students will still need to be accommodated elsewhere. Hence, the school has planned to pitch in tents in the playground to conduct the examination. "The school will conduct the examination in the early morning hours so that students do not have to bear the summer heat. The police have also provided personnel in the school premises for protection," Shaikh said.
The police have arrested 10 accused for rioting and received their custody till April 13. Deputy superintendent of police (Malegaon) Sunil Kadasne said the police were being extremely cautious while nabbing the accused by collecting strong evidence against them. "The situation is peaceful at present. A major incident was averted; it could have led to communal imbalance in the sensitive town. The police did not resort to firing to control the crowd but initiated dialogue, which helped in controlling the tense situation," Kadasne added.