Minphong Konyak
Dimapur | July 29
Police Unit School Mon was established with sound enrollment in 2004 at the New Police Reserve, arousing a lot of curiosity and expectations of the Mon public. The school even started a bus service for the staff and students – a first in Mon which in a way also helped students of other schools like DBS. Of course the bona fide members of the Unit School were exempted from paying fares while others had to pay. Indeed it was a new sensation and many parents, especially police personnel withdrew their children from their previous schools and sent them to the Unit School.
The first year passed smoothly but by the middle of 2005, things turned sour. Right after the summer vacation, bus service was unavailable causing untold miseries to the lot, the Unit school and DBS being located very far away. “The appeal for continuation of bus service went on but it never happened” a parent said and “the lame excuse given by the concern was that Mon road was too tiny and the bus too long to ply. Then how did it ever ply in the beginning and stopped?”an anxious parent questioned. “They are trying to play with the lives of our children by coaxing us with the promises of bus service which made us withdraw our children from well-established and competent schools” it was added.
In fact, the failure of providing the bus service has critically hampered the school’s reputation and enrolment. In 2004, the enrollment that was more than 100, which is surprisingly high for a new primary school in Mon. But after the bus-service mess last year, it dwindled to just about 70 this year in the school of nursery to class IV. Many more parents are on the brink of taking out their children from the school if they are not provided with a bus service as other facilities are being given in almost anywhere to children of defense and police personnel. In view of this problem, it is desirable if the department seeks another “shorter and more reliable” bus in place of the existing one which was stopped since last year on grounds of the bus being “too long for Mon roads” and thus prevent the school’s reputation from being jeopardized.
Morung Express News
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