SHILLONG: The NGT ban on coal mining has resulted in the closure of many schools and some churches in Jaintia Hills.
A group of journalists, who visited Jaintia Hills recently, found that as many as five schools catering to the school children belonging to coal mine workers from different communities have closed down.
As a result of this, hundreds of children are now out of school as their parents are no longer able to pay the school fees.
It was found that the closure of these schools is also because many of the children belonging to non-indigenous coal labourers are leaving Jaintia Hills along with their parents who are out of job following the ban.
During their visit to Sohkhymphor village, the journalists found that Little Star English Medium School which catered to over 150 children in the village had been closed down.
Headmaster of the school, Purno Sarma, said that they had to close down the school since many of the children had left the village along with their parents.
“Many of the local children have stopped coming to school since their parents are no longer able to pay the fees,” Sarma said.
He said that the school was supposed to get an SSA grant from this year. “But now everything has come to an end,” the headmaster lamented.
A school in Soo-Kilo constructed by the headman Hauni Lyngdoh out of his own resources did not see the light of day as the doors never opened.
“With this ban two schools in this village – Oxford English School and Borin Memorial School – have closed down as there are no more children. The ones remaining too have stopped coming as their parents can no longer afford to pay the fees,” Lyngdoh revealed.
Anthony Rangthong, Headmaster of White Rose LP School in Byndihati which has lost almost half of its students, said many problems have arisen from the sudden ban and it was becoming increasingly difficult for the school to pay salaries to the teachers.
“Our students were doing well but this NGT ban has now created problems, especially for the local people,” he said.
Another Headmaster of a local school, PC Bashait, felt that the sudden ban has impacted education in the area. “Now parents cannot educate their children and it will be difficult for private schools like ours to carry on,” he said.
Another teacher in Umpleng, Paul Gautam, whose school too has shut down said, “Now the future is uncertain, we are jobless now, we pray to the concerned people to take note of the impact on the students with their studies and future now in jeopardy.”
A significant impact of the NGT ban has also been felt by the religious denominations with as many as three churches closing down because the congregation has left the area. One such church is in Umpleng, adjacent to the school, which has now closed down. “We have been trying to educate our children even in the spiritual aspects but since they have gone, this church is now closed,” Paul Gautam said.
Zinda Rai, a pastor of the Believer’s Church at Soo-Kilo said, “Our congregation consists of people from Assam, Bengal and Nepal and we have been blessed all along, but now it has come to an end.”