The parents informed that the administration stayed adamant about their decision to restrict the students from entering the school and they were asked to take their children back home.
In defiance of the order of basic education officer (BSA), the Delhi Public School (DPS) Indirapuram again restricted six of its students to enter its school premises over the fee-related dispute on Friday. It’s the third day in a row that the school has held back its students from attending their classes.
“They aren’t allowing our kids to enter even after basic education officer’s order,” said one of the parents to City Spidey.
The students have been denied entry in the last three days even after the BSA’s order to the school to not restrict the kids from attending school.
Parents, who were waiting with their kids outside the school, tried to call police helpline but the calls weren’t going through. However, after a while, Vikas Sharma, head of the school’s administration came and had the discussion with the agitated parents. Later, the parents were allowed inside the school and talks were held between them and the administration.
The parents informed that the administration stayed adamant on their decision to restrict the students from entering the school and they were asked to take their children back home.
Parents alleged that the school is harassing the kids. Speaking further, students and their parents alleged that kids were held back in the library and weren’t allowed to attend any of the classes for the whole day.
They also said that not just the kids were held back, school authority also did not intimidate parents regarding the action taken.
Sapna Garg, the mother of one of the kids, said that she came to know about this incident when she called her kid’s class teacher. “This is a serious offence. Had I not called the teacher, I wouldn’t have known about it,” she said.
Yesterday, when City Spidey reached out to the administration regarding the matter, Vikas Sharma acknowledged that the incident did happen but he held parents responsible for the action taken. He said that the action was taken because these parents refused to pay last academic session fee and also the two quarters of the running session.
Sharma further said, “Most of the parents whose kids study in the school are content with the fee structure. There are only selected few parents who have issues. The parents association is backing these parents because of political issues. They are backing these parents so that they could indirectly blackmail the school.”
When we enquired the parents, they stated that only annual fees were not paid. They said that it is an illegal demand since 2010. Sharma said, “Annual fee is the part of tuition fees”.
While questioning the violation of the BSA’s order on Thursday, Sharma said that they’ve complied with the order. However, when he was questioned again on Friday about the violation of the order, he said that the letter hasn’t reached to the school so he has no idea about the order. The parents claimed that the letter has been received by the school as per their conversation with the BSA.
When City Spidey contacted the BSA, he said that letter was issued two days ago. When asked if the school is lying, he said that he doesn’t want to comment on it but in case school hasn’t received the letter, he will post it again.
Shivani Jain, President of All India Parents Association, alleged school for being insensitive and tyrannical.
“They pursue rules at their own will. These actions are direct violations of the Right To Education Act 2009. The BSA’s order and the order issued by DM Ritu Maheshwari mentioned that schools can’t charge the raised fee of session 2018-19 until the administration gets the clarity about the issues we brought to their knowledge,” Shivani said.
According to Right to Education Act, the school cannot punish the students physically or mentally in the matters related to fee payments.
In the month of May, parents association had a meeting with the DM in the presence of District Inspector of Schools (DIOS) where parents put up several issues persisting in the ordinance. The DM acknowledged their concerns and notified all the schools to maintain the status quo of the fee structure prior to the enactment of a recently passed ordinance. Copy of the order is attached as the image below.
The dispute is going on for a very long time and the crux of this battle between school and some parents is non-compliance of the government orders at the school’s end regarding fee payments.
Amidst the battle between these parents and school, the kids are suffering. The school is repetitively defying government’s law and orders. Whereas, the city administration’s casual approach towards the school’s unruly actions is adding to the problem.
While speaking on the school’s gross violation of the government order, the BSA seemed to have a soft attitude towards the school. He said that he’ll be visiting the school on Saturday and will have the word with them regarding this matter.
When asked if the visit is scheduled keeping this issue in mind, he said that he’s visiting for some other purposes but will also discuss the issue. Asking whether he’s initiating any probe or planning to take action against the school, he maintained that he will only discuss the matter with the school’s management.
We also reached out to the DM but the calls and messages went unanswered.
