Bengaluru’s Orchids school booked for flouting Karnataka education norms

The complaint was filed after parents complained to authorities that the school management had falsely claimed that the school was affiliated to the CBSE board when it only had permission to run the institution as per the state board.

The Block Education Office of Bengaluru South had issued a notice to the school to explain the allegations of ‘teaching based on CBSE board’ after several parents on Tuesday rushed to the campus in protest against the school management for deceiving them.

Parents alleged that the school management used to teach as per CBSE board but with the announcement of public examinations for classes 5 and 8, the management directed that the students learn the syllabus as per the state board. In addition, the parents said, the school is not permitted as per records to admit students to classes 9 and 10 but it flouted norms by registering the students and sending them to another branch at Kengeri.

“All parents were shocked to know that the school is actually supposed to run according to state board…Until now, the teachers have been teaching as per the CBSE board syllabus, but ahead of the public examination for classes 5 and 8, the school management started teaching as per state board syllabus and directed students to follow them,” Meghashree, a disgruntled parent, told The Indian Express.

“Had I known that the school is affiliated to state board, I would not have enrolled my son. I could have enrolled him in a government school. All of us were under the impression that the school is affiliated to CBSE, hence we enrolled our children. No one from the school management side has addressed our concerns yet,” she added.

An official from the Block Education Office in Bengaluru South said they have taken cognisance of the matter and issued a notice to the school. “However, the school responded stating that they are teaching as per state board syllabus, which is false. We have registered a formal police complaint against the school for teaching CBSE syllabus when they were only permitted to teach according to state board syllabus. They have also violated the permissible limit of admitting students only until class 8 by allowing admissions even for classes 9 and 10 and sending the students to a different branch,” the official said.

Orchids, The International School, is not new to controversy and was previously booked in July 2020 for flouting the law. An FIR was registered against the Haralur Road branch for functioning by admitting students without seeking approval from the education department. In the same month, the school’s Magadi Road branch also ran into trouble after it was directed to shut down by the education department for running the institution without permission.