COIMBATORE: With a majority of buses confined to the depots on Monday due to the nationwide strike, a large number of students, especially in rural areas, could not attend school. Those who attended had to travel in crowded buses.
According to sources, 443 students, out of 941, were made it to Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Valparai. As many as 213 students, out of 410, were absent at Girls Higher Secondary School in Valparai. Since two government buses were operated in the town, many students reached schools by walk or parents dropped them in two-wheelers.
"Many schools registered 60 to 70 per cent attendance. Not only in the outskirts of the city, 242 students were absent out of 710 in an aided high school at Saibaba colony, CCMA government higher secondary school registered 69 per cent students," sources said.
T Mohanpriya, class XI student in the corporation girls higher secondary school at RS Puram told TNIE, "Usually I go to school from P.N Pudur by government bus at 8.30 am. As government buses were not operated on Monday, there was heavy rush in private buses. We could not get on the bus due to the rush. I was waiting for a bus till 9.40 am, but all buses were full. With no alternative transport available, I returned home."
P Gokulraj, a class X student in Vedapatti told TNIE, "I was not aware of the strike. When I was standing at the bus stop at Thondamuthur, the buses came in 20- minute intervals and were crowded. I could not get on the bus. As I had to write a revision test on the first day, I called my father to drop me at school on his two-wheeler." He said many students travelled on footboards without safety.
When asked about it, Chief Educational Officer N Geetha told TNIE, "High number of students were absent in government schools as adequate number of buses were not operated. Some students came to schools by walk, cycle and parents two-wheeler, etc after much struggle."