Ahmedabad: DEO begins talks with other institutes to accommodate students of school where stabbing victim, accused studied

Officials said a number of parents have sought that their wards be shifted to a separate school due to which the nearby institutes are being contacted.

“Since several parents are concerned about the safety of their children and demanding a separate school, we have started talking to the other private schools in the vicinity to accommodate students should they apply for admission,” District Education Officer (DEO), Ahmedabad (city), Rohit Chaudhary told The Indian Express.

Some of the private schools identified in the vicinity include KumKum School, Divine Buds School, Nelson’s School, Jay Somnath Higher Secondary School and Hebron Secondary and Higher Secondary School.

Further, the education department is also considering directing the school concerned to return the fee of all those students seeking a leaving certificate.

Not the first trouble for school

Tuesday’s incident, in which a student allegedly stabbed his classmate from another section to death, is not this school’s only brush with controversy in recent past.

Last year, on the complaint of taking students on a vacation trip without consent of or informing the education authorities, a report was submitted to the state education department, recommending cancellation of the No-Objection Certificate of the school.

Sources at the education department revealed to The Indian Express that since last year, despite stringent rules in place following the Harni lake tragedy in Vadodara, the Ahmedabad school neither sought permission nor informed the district education department regarding taking students on a trip to Polo forest in Sabarkantha district.

Besides, there have been other complaints by parents and education authorities. “We have complained to the school authorities on the lack of discipline in the school several times but the management did not pay heed to our complaints. Instead, we were told each time that since the school is not affiliated to the Gujarat education board, the district or state government has no say in its functioning. This was an attempt to dissuade us from complaining to higher authorities,” one of the parents told The Indian Express.

A few of the parents protesting outside the school also alleged that the mother of the victim had complained to the school authorities about an earlier fight between the two boys but the school did not take any action.

A Class XI student, who has been studying in the school for over a decade, said on condition of anonymity: “Earlier, there were no such issues in the school but things started getting out of the management’s hands fairly recently. It is weird to see that while the school authorities are very strict on trivial issues, like students not wearing sports shoes or girls not sporting two braids, it turned a blind eye to open fights on the school campus.”

Chintan baithak on August 26

Management and school principals of over 1,800 private schools affiliated to all the boards in Ahmedabad city will undergo a one-day ‘Chintan baithak’ on August 26 at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA). The discussion to be organised by the Ahmedabad District Education Office will see deliberations on discipline in schools, things to be taken care of by the school management, principals and parents, especially keeping in mind the changing times. The baithak will also include sessions by psychologists.