Around 250 girls from Jai Prakash Narayan Sarvodaya Vidyalaya for Girls in Lucknow walked 2.5 km in the rain on Monday and blocked the Dubagga-Kanpur bypass.
They formed a human chain and sat on the road, protesting the shortage of teachers that has disrupted classes for months. The students said irregular lessons, especially in physics, chemistry and biology, could hurt their board exam results. They also complained about poor-quality food and medical facilities at the residential school, and demanded that the district magistrate come to hear them.
The protest came three days after boys from the same school staged a similar demonstration. Police tried for nearly two hours to clear the busy road, but the girls stayed firm until senior social welfare and district officials spoke to them and promised addressing their grievances. They were eventually escorted safely back to campus.
