HYDERABAD: Only days into the new academic year, an international school in Hyderabad has abruptly cancelled the admission of at least four students, allegedly over the ‘unruly behaviour’ of their parents. While the management, in a letter dated April 8, attributed the move to a ‘violation of the school’s Parent Behaviour Policy and established rules”, parents alleged it was in retaliation for questioning the school’s discriminatory behaviour against students with pending fees.
The annual fee at NIHOC The International School, Uppal, is upwards of 1 lakh.Speaking to TOI, some parents claimed that a group of students were recently forced to sit in a separate room throughout school hours, because part of their fees was not cleared. This left the children embarrassed with many students complaining of anxiety and breathing issues afterwards, they added. The claim was dismissed by the school management.‘Discriminatory’“When we confronted the management over this discriminatory practice, they handed us admission termination letters citing violation of a school policy that many of us are not even aware of,” said an aggrieved parent, adding, “My son had a panic attack after he was segregated from his class.”According to the parent, this happened despite paying 1 lakh towards his fee. “I only had to pay another 37,000 which I had kept pending as I had sought concession under the sports quota and was waiting for the school’s reply on the matter,” the parent alleged. While one parent claimed that the school cancelled the admission of at least 10 students, the management maintained that only four children were given these letters. They also claimed that the ‘cancellation of admission’ had nothing to do with fee dues. “It was more about how the parents behaved. They were rude and intimidating towards our staff and teachers,” said Manideepa K, academic counsellor of the school. She reiterated that the parents’ behaviour was ‘unacceptable, and in violation of the school’s code of conduct’.‘Against rules’“Maintaining a respectful and positive environment is of utmost importance to us, and such instances are taken very seriously. In view of this, the school has decided to cancel your child’s admission with immediate effect,” the letter read. Members of parents’ associations, meanwhile, questioned the school management’s move. “First of all, making a child sit separately is against rules. It is unfortunate that we do not have any grievance mechanism to raise such issues,” said K Venkat Sainath from the Hyderabad School Parents Association. “They can ask the parent to apologise, write a letter, or ask them not to set foot inside the campus. But cancelling a child’s admission doesn’t make sense.”
