KOZHIKODE: A village has united for the high school education of a differently-abled child, Muhammed Asim. The boy, who has no hands, completed his 7th class at Government Mappila UP School, Velimanna. Now locals have demanded that the school be upgraded to a high school and have planned a dharna in front of the Collectorate on April 12. Though the boy, along with his father had approached Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, with the same plea, it was not granted.
Earlier, a human wall was formed on the school premises in support of the demand. Muhammed Asim's disability has come as a blessing in disguise for the school. The previous UDF government had upgraded the 94-year-old lower primary school to upper primary in 2014. Asim, 12, was born with the serious handicap. He writes with his legs and needs the help of his parents at school. He has completed his seventh standard and there is no school in the neighbourhood, where he can be taken by his parents easily.
"In 2014, when Abid was a class four student, the school was only lower primary.
“Then, we met the then chief minister Oommen Chandy, who listened to our plight and gave immediate directions to upgrade the school to upper primary, enabling our son to continue his studies here," said his father Saeed Yamani. Abid suffers from 90 percent disability and cannot go to any of the schools, which are six kms away. The villagers are coming together, forgetting their differences in politics and religion for a child, and other children will also stand to benefit, when the school gets upgraded. Prior to the dharna, they will gather at 9.30am at the Sarovaram biopark junction in Eranhipalam.
