GJM protest: Boarding schools extend vacation till 6th July

Students were also apprehensive about whether their friends, who have gone home during the vacation, would return or not due to the unrest in the hills.

Amid apprehensions about reopening of schools in Darjeeling, boarding schools have extended vacation till 6th July in view of the ongoing strike called by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) for separate Gorkhaland.

The extension of vacation comes after various boarding schools sent hundreds of students safely to the plains when GJM gave a 12-hour window to the students of all the boarding schools to leave on June 23.

According to reports, most of the students in Darjeeling either study in government schools or in renowned boarding schools.

Students were also apprehensive about whether their friends, who have gone home during the vacation, would return or not due to the unrest in the hills.

"Earlier in 2009, when there was a shutdown, many of our friends had left the school. They never came back. We think a similar thing will happen this time too," said Prashant, a class XI student.

Even school administration also shared same apprehensions.

Robindra Subba, director of Himali Boarding School in Kurseong, said in 2009, boarding schools witnessed a 25 percent drop in the number of students due to the unrest in Darjeeling.

"After that, it took us five-six years to get back the confidence that students are safe in the hills. We don't know what will happen now," Subba told PTI.

The situation in Darjeeling hills remained tense but as the strike called by GJM entered 18th day of the indefinite shutdown which has crippled the normal life.

(With agency inputs)