JAIPUR: More than 100 students of Government Seth Anandilal Poddar Senior Secondary School for the Deaf, staged a sit-in outside the main gate to protest poor infrastructure and lack of basic facilities.
The protest was triggered after a piece of plaster fell from a classroom ceiling and struck a student, raising serious safety concerns. Fearing further accidents, students walked out of their classrooms and demanded immediate action.
The students raised six key demands, alleging poor hostel conditions, inadequate teaching facilities, and harassment by a staff member. They claimed they were not being provided adequate food in the hostel and that sanitation facilities were in a deplorable condition. They also alleged that they were charged money for speaking to their parents over the phone or for being taken to hospital.
The students further claimed that the school—Jaipur’s largest government school for students with hearing and speech impairments—lacked teachers proficient in Indian sign language and alleged that some teachers frequently remained absent from classes or spent time using mobile phones instead of teaching. They also accused a male staff member of harassing female students and complained about the poor condition of the school’s toilets.
Unable to speak or hear, the students conveyed their grievances to the administration through sign language, placards, and written messages. Members of a spiritual organisation who had visited the school to conduct a pre-scheduled meditation session said they became aware of the students’ distress through their gestures. The protest soon took a political turn. Former CM Ashok Gehlot and LoP Tikaram Jully visited the school.
After meeting the students, Gehlot sought state government’s intervention.
Following the protest, officials from the Education Department rushed to the school. Chief Block Education Officer Asha Gupta met students and assured them that their grievances would be addressed. She also informed them that principal Bharat Joshi had been relieved of his duties with immediate effect.
Poor hostel facilities, harassment by staff members
The students raised six key demands, alleging poor hostel conditions, inadequate teaching facilities and harassment by a staff member. They claimed they were not being provided adequate food in the hostel and that sanitation facilities were in a deplorable condition.