Private Schools and Children’s Welfare Association members took out a candlelight march in Patna on Thursday. The march started at SK Memorial Hall and ended at Kargil Chowk. The association earlier decided that all the non-affiliated schools across the state would remain closed on November 11 and 12.

Shamael Ahmad, the president of the association, said: “School administrators observed a daylong fast today. Then we took out a candlelight march. Schools from various districts took part in it.”

He added that no school was ready to get registered with the state government. “Schools are not ready to get registered because they believe the state government would hand over a list demanding fulfilment of all criteria in three years for registration,” Ahmad said. The association has stuck to its decision of going against the state government’s diktat of getting registred. Text by Smita Kumar, picture by Jai Prakash