Polls, voters damage her school, Chennai kid’s angry video goes viral

CHENNAI: A video of a little girl, a student of a government school in Chennai, asking some sharp and pertinent questions about the condition of her school after the conclusion of the polling for Parliamentary polls in Tamil Nadu on Friday, has gone viral online, making many to sit up and take notice of the damage to schools that are chosen as polling stations.

Several government and aided schools have sustained damage to their infrastructure after the polling, and the school managements and teachers are tending to the repair works. The situation has understandably vexed the teachers who just finished election duty. What was different this time was students sharing their anger regarding the plight of the schools and going public with it.

In the video circulating on social media, a Chennai primary school student is seen criticising those who decided to use her school for the polling and those who came to cast votes. After showing the condition of the school, she says in the video: "This is the plight of my school after the election on Friday. The garbage and leftover food packets are left untended and the furniture is broken."

Commenting on this, a government school teacher said this was the condition of most government schools every time after elections are over. "The school is not seen as a place of education by those responsible for monitoring the voting process. They should have held accountable those who damage school properties and litter."

Another school teacher, who had predicted such damages, added that school managements and principals are always burdened with the task of attending to the damages.

"As we are fulfilling our democratic duty by casting votes, isn't it imperative that we should also be conscious of the premises and be mindful to keep it clean," asked a retired principal of a Chennai Corporation school.