'I Want To Study': Fear Keeps Children Out of School in Nuh's Kherla Village

Fearing the safety of their children post violence, families in Nuh's Kherla village are not sending them to school

(Photo: Athar Rather/ The Quint)

It's 3:00 pm on a hot Monday afternoon in Nuh's Kherla village and 18-year-old Ruksaar, a class 12 student, is helping her mother Raiza and elder sister Afsa with daily chores. The fourth of seven children, Ruksaar, who aspires to be an IPS officer, recollects that she last went to school on 31 July.

On that day, violence broke out in Nuh district in Haryana, after a religious procession led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) took a communal turn. At least six people lost their lives in the clashes and the district came to a standstill with the imposition of Section 144 and the restriction on internet access.

When The Quint met Ruksaar's family on Monday, 28 August, she was anxious about catching up with schoolwork ahead of her board examinations.

"I feel so bored. I am in class 12 and I am not able to study at home," she said.

Ruksaar is among the many children in the Kherla village who have stopped going to school after communal clashes.

The attendance in the Kherla government school has dipped to 100 students after the 31 July violence, school authorities told The Quint.

(Photo: Athar Rather/The Quint)

Once considered a place of knowledge, Ruksaar's school, Kherla Government Senior Secondary School, had at least 1,200 students enrolled. But in the aftermath of the violence, the daily attendance dipped to just about 100 students.

This has left the classrooms empty, and the school engulfed in eerie silence, students and teachers told The Quint.

The drop in attendance has led to deserted classrooms.

(Photo: Athar Rather/ The Quint)

'We Sit Idle All Day'

Despite educational institutions reopening a week after the violence in Haryana, children in the Kherla village have not been able to resume their classes.

With no schoolwork, children sit idly at home either playing with their friends all day or by helping their parents with housework.

"Not going to school has affected my studies as I am in 12th standard. I am not sure until when this situation will persist," a worried Ruksaar told The Quint.

18-year-old Ruksaar, who is in 12th standard, aspires to be an IPS officer.

(Photo: Athar Rather/The Quint)

Just 100 metres from Ruksaar's house is a lake where her friend Anjeela is busy washing her clothes. She is a class 11 student in the same school.

"I have not been able to go to school because of the communal clashes. All I do is help with housework. But I want to study and I want to go to school," Anjeela told The Quint.

19-year-old Anjeela helps her mother with household chores including washing clothes.

(Photo: Athar Rather/The Quint)

While some children are aware of the tensions, some are not.

The Quint spoke to three seven-year-old children who were playing alongside the lake and asked them why they were not in school.

All of them had one response: "Hamare ma baap ne kaha ki yaha koi ladai ho rahi hai isle hum school nahi ja sakte (Our parents told us that there is a fight happening here which is why we can't go to school)."

"I don't know why, but I miss my friends… I want to go and play in school," said another six-year-old.

With no schoolwork, children sit idle at home either playing with their friends all day or by helping their parents with housework.

(Photo: Athar Rather/ The Quint)

'Children Facing the Brunt of Violence'

It is the women and children who seem to be bearing the brunt in the aftermath of the violence.

"We don't want to send our kids to school because we are scared. This is affecting their education. They do nothing at all home. I am afraid they are forgetting what they learnt in school. But we fear what might happen if we send them to school," Rumana's mother Harooni, a homemaker and mother of seven, told The Quint.

Some families claimed that they are left with only women with men and young boys having either left Nuh for their native places for their safety or were taken away by the police in connection with the 31 July violence. Even those who stayed back are afraid of search operations by the police.

"We are only ladies here. They are all scared of the situation here. They have no livelihoods. Even the kids are in fear, so they do not step out even to the grocery store."

Afsa, Ruksaar's elder sister from Kherla village

The fear due to the violence has also made the villagers extra cautious with three elder members of the panchayat guarding the entry of outsiders into the village.

Explaining that the education in a backward district like Nuh was a "luxury," Kherla village's Sarpanch Rafiq Khan told The Quint, "The violence has had a huge impact of kids of villages across Nuh. For two years, COVID-19 restricted the education of children, and the situation was extremely bad. Now, with the violence, it's become worse, and the students' future is at stake."

Forty-seven-year-old Intezaar, a geography teacher for classes 9-12 in the Kherla government school, said, "Today (29 August), only 10 children across classes came to school. If there is no continuity in their education, I am afraid they will lose interest and won't be able to cope up despite our best efforts."

'Need To Motivate Children To Come Back To School'

Kherla government school's principal Rehmuddin told The Quint that the staff of the school had been visiting the villages to assure parents of their child's safety.

"Education is very important. Life is incomplete without education. Most families are uneducated here. So, they want their children to study and take up good jobs. The only thing that can save Mewat's Nuh and neighbouring areas is education," 51-year-old Rehmuddin told The Quint.

Intezaar believed that it is important to undertake a door-to-door campaign and build back the trust of the parents. "Many students have left to their relatives place fearing arrest. We need to bring them back," he said.

Both the principal and teacher, however, were uncertain as to when the strength of the school will go back to its normal.

Ruksaar, who seemed confident about going back to school told The Quint, "Education is a necessity. If someone is uneducated, he/she will be unaware of their surroundings. I want to get back to school, finish my board exams, and go to college so I can make my parents proud."