Students of the pre-examination training centre at East Hill here went on a token strike on Wednesday in protest against the alleged negligence by the Directorate of Scheduled Caste Development in providing the required infrastructure to the centre despite several pleas.
The centre is run by the Directorate to equip unemployed youngsters from Scheduled Caste communities for jobs and entrance tests. It has been a year since the two-year stenography course was started at the centre. However, the administration has reportedly made no arrangements for practical training that requires a computer laboratory.
One of the six papers of the stenography course is computer word processing, but the students are yet to receive any practical exposure in the field. With the first year examination due in December, the students are deeply concerned.
The centre has had a computer lab for the desktop printing course. However, the 16 computers reportedly fell out of use owing to disrepair. Besides, the Directorate did not appoint a trainer. There has been no admission to the course in the past four years.
Inaugurating the protest, Satheesh Parannur, patron of the Scheduled Caste/Tribe Protection Committee, said the issue had been brought to the attention of the Directorate several times, but no response was forthcoming. He also said that the protest would be intensified in the coming days if the authorities failed to take steps to set up a computer lab at the centre.
