BENGALURU: Alleging that schools are targeting children of parents who opposed fee hike or raised other issues, several parents have approached the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) and the District Education Regulatory Authority (DERA).
They have alleged that their children are being targeted because they opposed unscientific school fee hike, corporal punishment and discrimination among students in the schools. They say the schools are getting back at their kids by even withholding the admission tickets for the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) exam scheduled to begin on March 21.
Some parents have said that they managed to get the admission tickets for their kids after intervention of KSCPCR and DERA, while in some cases they had to take help from the police. A parent from Sahakaranagar said, “As we questioned the exorbitant fee charged by the school, they targeted our children and denied examination hall tickets. We somehow managed to get it by approaching the police.”
Another parent said, “Despite our efforts to get the hall tickets released, the school authorities made us wait till the last minute, and finally, agreed to give it two days before the exams, that too by taking an undertaking from us that we will not raise objection about anything in future.”
A school affiliated to the state board located in Bengaluru West is denying admission tickets to 49 students, a worried parent said, adding, “We have approached DERA against the school and the hearing was scheduled to be held on Thursday. But in the morning, we got a message about the postponement of the hearing. Hope our children get the admission tickets.”
The attitude of the school towards the children is increasing pressure on the youngsters who are preparing for the board examinations, they point out. Officials concerned said the parents should approach the respective boards.
S Jayakumar, director, primary education, said, “No school is allowed to blackmail or harass parents by withholding admission ticket and they have no right to play with the future of kids. Parents can directly approach DERA irrespective of boards. In case of state board schools, they can even file a complaint before the commissioner for public instructions.”