Chennai: Following reports of private school managements trying to take children to the Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s public meeting at Vandalur on Wednesday, the school managements sent students back to their homes in the afternoon itself.
The school managements, which had initially sent messages to parents of students to send the students of classes 10 to 12 for the MGR centenary function, brought the children back to the school and sent them to their homes at around 12.30 am.
In their messages yesterday, they had said students would be sent home after the MGR centenary function ended without specifying the time of return.
Education department officials in the city had promised to look into the reports of attempts to compel students to attend Chief Minister’s meetings and take proper action. Fulfilling their promise, the private school students were not forced to sit for the public meeting and sent back in the afternoon.
Many parents did not send their children fearing that students would be kept till the end of the meeting. School managements had threatened to punish students who failed to turn up for the programme on Wednesday. It is not known if they would carry out their threats on Thursday.
Reacting to attempts on Tuesday to bring students to a public meeting, PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss on Wednesday alleged that students had been brought to Chief Minister’s public meeting at Vandalur under the pretext of training refres-hers in the morning.
Such training should be conducted in schools and not at a public meeting ground where there would be no facilities for students. Anbumani said no one should use students for their selfish gains.
