Run for Unity: Education department tells schools to call students during vacation

The education department asked several schools to send their students to attend “Run for Unity” events at Marine Drive and Bandra on Thursday to commemorate the

The education department asked several schools to send their students to attend “Run for Unity” events at Marine Drive and Bandra on Thursday to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabbhai Patel.

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However, as the schools are closed for Diwali vacation, many students could not take part in the events. Schools said the education inspectors sent them messages about the events only on Wednesday, leaving them with very little time to tell the students about it. “Most students are out of the city, while the teachers are also on a break. Thus it was difficult to coordinate, owing to which we could send only a few students,” the principal of an Andheri school said. Students were asked to report at 7am at one of the two venues. At Marine Drive, the Run for Unity event was inaugurated by governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, while at Bandra, the event was attended by education minister Ashish Shelar.

“We sent messages to the students whose numbers we had. However, only some could attend them. We couldn’t make it compulsory as there was no prior notice given about the events,” said a civic school principal.

A senior education department official, however, dismissed the reports about low participation. “NCC and NSS students took part in the events as they were informed in advance. Many junior college students also took part and both the events were very successful,” the official said.