CHENNAI: Teachers and education activists have urged the election commission to prevent the defacing of schools and colleges which are used as polling booths. During the election process, officials often paste papers with lists of candidates and polling booth areas among others on the walls of educational institutions, leaving imprints.
Palli Kalvi Pathukappu Iyakkam, a movement led by educationists, wrote to the chief electoral officer and reached out to Chief Minister MK Stalin and School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi. Many schools have spent money on wall paintings to create a pleasant environment for students. However, while removing the lists pasted on the walls during election, the paint also peels off. The schools will then be left with the choice of either repainting or leaving them as it is, said Thenkanal from the movement.
According to a government teacher from Thanjavur, depending on the number of classrooms used as polling booths, each school may have to spend up to Rs 10,000 for repainting. “We had painted maps, solar system, and other educational graphics on the walls six months before the local body elections and most of them were destroyed after the institution was used as a polling booth. We didn’t get funds to redo the paintings,” said a government school teacher from Erode. The election commission should use temporary boards and stick papers on it instead of spoiling the walls, the teacher added.