BANGALORE: Nine schools in Whitefield and other areas have been asked by the Department of Public Instruction to admit children who have discontinued their education in the Marathahalli school where a six-year-old girl was raped last month.
Several children have been withdrawn from Vibgyor High after the incident, according to a parent who has decided to shift her kids to another school.
K Padmavathi, Deputy Director for Public Instruction (Bangalore South), wrote to the nine schools last week, “requesting” them to accommodate the children mid-session. She wrote the letters following complaints from parents about some schools citing “no seats” as a reason while denying admissions.
“I know at least a hundred people who have moved their wards out of Vibgyor. The prime reason is the way the school is disowning the responsibility of the heinous crime and the casualness that was shown towards it. It makes us uncomfortable that the class teacher and the coordinator for Grade 1 have not been suspended,” said the parent.
The Vibgyor High school management appointed a new principal on August 14, just a day after Padmavathi wrote the letters. Roshan M D’Souza has replaced Alistair M Laporte, who headed the school when the six-year old was raped.
The nine schools that have been asked to admit the children are Chrysalis High, Varthur; Euro School, Whitefield; HAL Public School, Vimanapura; National Public School, Indiranagar; Sishu Griha School, New Thippasandra; Bethany High School, Koramangala; Greenwood High School, Varthur-Sarjapur Road; Gopalan International School, Whitefield and The Deen’s Academy, Whitefield.
South-4 Block Education Officer S M Ramesh told Express that not a single transfer certificate has been issued so far. “I will know when a TC has been issued because it requires my countersign. But it could be the case of parents requesting TCs through post. Also, school managements may have worked out an arrangement to admit kids without TCs,” he said.
Fifteen children who were studying in various classes in Vibgyor High have joined Gopalan International School.
“The parents approached us with their concerns. We plan to conduct extra classes and hire more teachers for these kids,” said C V Nagaraj, academic coordinator, Gopalan Schools.
‘No Fee Refund’
According to parents, the management of Vibgyor High is not ready to refund the fees of children who are moving out. “They are only returning post-dated cheques for the quarters starting October 2014,” a parent said.