Delhi: Ramjas School under corporal punishment cloud

Delhi Education Department issued a letter to Ramjas School which said “it was found that the school administration is involved in corporal punishment."

While several people gathered outside Ramjas Foundation for a “silent protest” last week on Tuesday, none of the managing committee members came for the meeting. (Source: Facebook)

The Delhi Education Department has issued a notice to the Chairman of the Ramjas School in Anand Parbat after it found the school was involved in corporal punishment. The notice, sent by K K A Sorte, Deputy Director of Education, West A District, said: “…some parents has (sic) alleged serious allegations against the Principal Smt. Sandhya Bindal of Ramjas School.” The letter adds that the complaints were “verified at District level through a senior officer in the rank of Deputy Education Officer” and “it was found that the school administration is involved in corporal punishment.”

After the notice was issued on April 27, sources said, the school managing committee met, but instead of taking a decision on the matter, the school was shut down for five days from May 5. The school management called another “most urgent” on May 9 at the Ramjas Foundation building at Daryaganj to discuss the letter “regarding harassment of teachers and parents” by Bindal. While several people gathered at the spot for a “silent protest” on the said date, none of the managing committee members came for the meeting.

“The meeting did not take place because the nominees and the members of the committee had prior commitments. Some of them were not in the town as it was supposed to be the last day before summer vacations,” said Gauri Shanker Moondhra, chairman of Ramjas Foundation Managing Committee. Promising to conduct the meeting as soon as possible, he added: “We have received complaints for a long time from teachers and parents, so some decision has to be taken.”

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Complainant Mukesh Sharma had alleged that the school principal “harassed” his children and “plotted schemes” to get them suspended because of his continuous protests against the school’s “illegal fee hike” and other issues. He also filed a police report after his daughter told him that she was physically assaulted and threatened outside a washroom by the Principal. “I shifted my children to a different school which is far away from my home out of fear,” Sharma said. However, because of this, the Delhi High Court rejected a writ petition in the matter filed by Sharma’s wife and disposed of the miscellaneous petitions as infructuous.

Bindal told the indianexpress.com that the allegations against her were being raised by “outsiders” and “anti-social elements”. She said that it was strange that Sharma, whose ward no longer studies in her school, is making these allegations. “These people had an issue with the school management over the fees for a long time,” she said, adding: “The Ramjas Foundation is a well-known trust and it will take appropriate actions against all those who are involved in such kind of conspiracies.”

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