For boys graduating from Class X at Chennai High School in Chozhavaram, the end of schooling comes with an added burden. With no govt or corporation higher secondary school for boys within a 5-km radius, they are forced to seek admission outside this distance or turn to private schools.Residents say this has been the case for boys from the area that falls under zone 7 (Ambattur) of the Chennai corporation. “On average, at least 200 students pass out of Class X from the school, which was founded in 2013. Last year, 150 out of 207 graduating students were boys. While there is govt higher secondary school for girls in the area, the boys bear the brunt. An additional floor can be built on this existing building, or the nearby govt elementary school can be used to construct an additional building,” said B V Ramadoss, resident-activist and former ward councillor.A visit by TOI to the spot also confirmed the lack of boys’ higher secondary schools in the vicinity, with the nearest one at Ayyappakam, which is 4.9 km away. “Private schools are quite expensive, charging not less than 50,000 for class 11. Most of the students who study here are from financially underprivileged families and cannot afford them,” said S Suresh, president, united welfare associations, Ambattur.School staff said a petition was forwarded to GCC’s education department last year, and an inspection was carried out. GCC education joint commissioner K Karpagam did not respond to TOI’s calls, but an official from the department confirmed that a recommendation letter had been sent to the govt for upgrading the school into a higher secondary school last year. However, there has been no further development since.At present, corporation officials said that the area had 10 primary schools, three middle and three high schools for boys.Ambattur MLA G Balamurugan said he had already received a petition in this regard and would soon draft a letter to the school education minister Rajmohan for immediate redress. “The concerns are genuine, and it would benefit more than 100 boys every year. We will take all steps to make this happen,” he added.
