Journalism of Courage
Days after Pimpri’s D Y Patil school announced shutdown while alleging harassment from a few parents, Euro School in Wakad has followed suit by sending a letter to parents of its students hinting at such a possibility.
Like D Y Patil school, Euro School too has been facing protests against fee hikes for the past few months. On Thursday, the school management sent a letter to all parents pointing out to media reports about the protests over fees and hinted at the possibility of a shutdown.
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The letter, dated April 7, says that after a group of parents were asked to take a transfer certificate for their children by the school and seek admission elsewhere since they had refused to pay fees for several months, some of them continued to send their children forcibly to school even after their names were struck off rolls. When the school management made such children sit in library, the letter says, parents alleged their children were being held in detention.
Towards the end of the letter, the school management talks about safety of children in the wake of protests by parents during which school staff had to allegedly face physical threats. “We cannot, at any point, risk the safety of the children. As Euro parents, please be aware that if the school continues to be harassed in a deliberate manner by such parents, the school staff and management may need to take drastic steps and may be left with no choice but to close down the school indefinitely,” says the letter.
However, Vikas Phadnis, a trustee of EuroSchool Education Trust, denied any knowledge of an impending shutdown of the school. “We are nowhere close to a shutdown and do not intend to threaten any parents by this letter. Why would I want to threaten other parents who are paying fees regularly and co-operating with school. It just happens to be a co-incidence that another school announced a shutdown and we sent the letter at same time,” he said.
Asked why the letter hinted at a shutdown, Phadnis said it merely mentioned a possibility. “We are trying to just indicate the eventual outcome of this harassment by those 10-12 parents? We are merely saying if things like harassment of staff, non-payment of fees continue, it may lead to such a situation. In two days, the management will meet parents and clear any doubts or fears they may have,” he said.
One of the parents, requesting anonymity, said, “How can the school say it might close down? What is the fault of parents like us who are paying fees?”
Another parent said that after reports of another city school shutting down over fight with parents regarding fees, this letter had unnerved them. “If one school can do it, so can another. So the message is clear. Now we need to stop these parents or we will suffer,” she said.
However, the protesting parents say this is just a pressure tactic exerted on parents who were now scared since one school in the city had already announced shutdown.
