A month after a portion of a trust-run school’s classroom collapsed in Vadodara leading to the discontinuation of classes, the parents of the students on Wednesday protested the delay in resumption of classes even as the school management blamed the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) for not opening the seal to allow the management to undertake repairs and resume classes. The parents gathered on the premises of Shree Narayan Vidyalaya on Waghodia Road to seek answers from the school management about the delay. The school had been conducting online classes, which the parents alleged were “ineffective”. One of the parents, on the condition of anonymity, said: “The school management refused to grant Leaving Certificates (LC) to students considering a change of school. The school is not equipped for online teaching and it is affecting the academics.” The parent added: “The management has not informed when they will resume physical classes and if they are repairing the structure. Just a few metres away from the Gujarati medium building, which is closed, the management is running its English school. So, why can’t they accommodate the children there?” Earlier, the District Education Officer (DEO), probing the incident, had directed the school to close physical classes until the structure was repaired and safe to hold classes. On July 20, a student had been injured while five others had suffered a fall — but escaped unhurt — along with the classroom slab. Even as parents claimed that they had filed a complaint with the DEO’s office and school inspectors of Vadodara, DEO RR Vyas said, “We have issued notice to the school asking about their decision on the repairs for the safety of the children and commencement of classes. They have sought more time.” “They have been asked to submit all supporting documents. If some parents are applying for a Leaving Certificate, they have the right to do so. We have not received any complaints from any specific student regarding refusal to be given LC. If any complaint is received, we will look into it.” A school management member told The Indian Express that the school has “faced hindrance” as the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has “not heeded requests to open the seal to allow the management to undertake repairs and resume classes”. The member on the condition of anonymity said, “We have temporarily shifted students from Class 6 to 12 in the premises of the international school and started offline classes from August 1. But we are unable to start the classes up to Class 5 as we do not have adequate extra benches to accommodate the students…” “The trustees have written letters to the VMC seeking opening of the seal to allow repair work and also to be able to shift benches to the International School to be able to resume all offline classes. The VMC has not agreed to our request, so we are unable to enter the premises to carry out the repair.”The member also added that seven students from the secondary section had already been granted LCs based on their request.
