PUDUCHERRY: The issue of safety of students studying in schools housed in heritage buildings on Tuesday got curiouser, as angry parents of wards in the Pensonnait de Jevnne Filles Government Girls School locked up Education Minister T Thiagarajan, education secretary G Ragesh Chandra and officials of the PWD and the Education Department in the school when they went for an inspection of the building, a heritage structure.
The parents demanded the school building be renovated and not shifted, and said they would not shift their wards even if the structure collapsed and the kids died.
Also, they sought an answer from the UT government on the course of action with regard to the school building and wanted the government to renovate it.
Following the collapse of the 140-year-old Marie building, the government sent the officials to inspect the four schools housed in heritage buildings — Calve College Higher Secondary School, VOC Government Higher Secondary School, Pensonnait de Jevnne Filles and Suchilabai Government Higher Secondary School.
When the team headed by the Education Minister came to Pensonnait de Jevnne Filles, the parents questioned the government on why it had not repaired the building, despite their plea for 10 years. They then asked the team if it had come for restoration or demolition and wanted a written assurance from the Education Secretary that the school would not be shifted.