Vow not to allow school to open
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Navelim villagers have vowed not to allow opening of the Rosary Higher Secondary School if local students fail to get admissions this academic year.
Agitated parents and students, along with Navelim MLA and Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado, assembled outside the higher secondary to protest over the cut-off percentage fixed by the school management for admissions to the Science, Commerce and Arts streams.
The Fisheries Minister said that the villagers will not allow opening of the higher secondary if locals are denied admissions. “When this school was built, the then local priest had assured the villagers that local students would get first preference since they were denied admissions in city colleges. This promise has to be fulfilled. We want a certain quota for local students. We are not asking for all the seats. If the management has fixed 75 per cent as the cut-off percentage, Navelim students can be given a concession and allowed admission at 65 per cent cut off percentage. Till our students get admissions we will not allow the higher secondary to open,” he warned.
Local villager George Barretto has warned that Navelim villagers will not allow opening of the higher secondary.
A parent Suraj Phatarpekar said the higher secondary should reserve certain seats for local students. “Where will our village students go when they have no chance of admission in the city’s higher secondaries. There ought to be some concession for the local students,” he added.
Another parent Milee Rodrigues recalled that the local parish priest had collected donations from the Navelim villagers to build the higher secondary with the promise that the institute would cater to the needs of local students. “The principal cannot talk of online admissions or cut-off percentage. Where will our students go if they are denied admissions in their own institute?” she questioned.
