Darjeeling unrest: As shutdown continues, schools forced to declare early vacation, cancel exams
Authorities of St Joseph's School North Point and Mount Hermon School have been getting frantic calls from parents not only from India but from neighboring countries too.
On the Lebong Cart Road outside the picturesque campus of St Joseph's School North Point the remains of two burnt cars bear witness to the violence on June 17 which claimed three lives.
On Saturday, the school authorities had hurriedly put the school students in five study rooms so that they could not witness the mindless violence. Despite the best efforts of the school authorities to shield the students from the panic which had gripped the streets of Darjeeling the students have not been untouched by the imbroglio.
'MY PARENTS ARE CALLING ME EVERY DAY'
Authorities of St Joseph's School North Point and Mount Hermon School have been getting frantic calls from parents not only from India but from neighboring countries too. "My parents are calling me every day and if I do not have mobile they are calling teachers. They are worried if they get any vehicle they will come to receive me," Saloni Mahato, a class XI student of Mount Hermon School, who hails from Nepal, told India Today.
Mint from Thailand, said, "My parents have told the local guardian to come and take me away but they are not getting any vehicle."
Partha De, the principal of the school, said parents of students from Thailand, Korea, Nepal and Bangladesh were worried and the school authorities were trying to calm them.
"We had to postpone the examination as we also several day boarders. The summer vacations will start from June 23 and we have spoken to district authorities to arrange for transport," the principal said.
A few hundred metres away at St Joseph's North Point, principal Shajumon CK also admitted that parents have been making frantic calls.
200 FOREIGN STUDENTS
The school has 514 students in the school and almost 200 are from foreign countries. 102 are from Nepal 46 from Thailand and seven from Bangladesh among others.
Nahoom Sherpa, a student of Class XI from Nepal left with her aunt, a local resident. The student wants to return to his home but does not know how to return home.
There are about 12 boarding schools in Darjeeling from where students not only from India but also many countries from south Asia. These schools over the years the number of students have come down in certain schools. About a decade ago the number of students at Mount Hermon School was about 1,000 and now the figure stands at 300. About three years ago when there was a strike on the statehood demand, St Joseph's School North Point also lost a number of students.
The schools have enough provisions to sustain for a few weeks but it's more than food that the authorities are concerned about. The principal for both the institutions said that they want a permanent solution to the vicious cycle of bandhs and shutdowns.
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