Parents protest PTA decision

CHANDIGARH, Aug 27: Parents of students studying in pre-nursery and nursery classes of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 3...

CHANDIGARH, Aug 27: Parents of students studying in pre-nursery and nursery classes of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35 today protested PTA8217;s decision not to construct a room for adjusting these classes.

Earlier, when the parents had resented the move of the Education Department to shift the nursery sections of the school to the nearby Government High School in Sector 35 on account of space shortage, PTA president M.K. Virmani had offered to construct one more room to adjust the students in the school itself.

Parents alleged that even though the students of both classes were combined and very often due to sitting on the floor and in the heat some of them had developed allergies, they kept quiet in the hope that the new room will soon solve the problems. Out of the three fans in the classroom in which they were sitting, one has not been working ever since the session started, said a parent. Even after the contract for the room was signed for Rs 30,000 and parents had collected enough funds and donated fans for the room, when the contractor brought his labour to start the work on August 25, the PTA members and the school authorities sent them away.

The agitated parents today questioned the PTA president as to why the room was not being constructed and also asked him to furnish details of Rs 45,000 spent earlier on the cycle stand. But the president refused to give any details saying that he was not accountable to them.

The parents also alleged misappropriation of funds as they said the contract is given to a PTA member every time. They have sought immediate removal of the PTA president if he does not attend to their grievances. School Principal Khushinder Sharma said that a few parents were inciting the others on the issue and that one of the classrooms which is presently with the election department will be made available to them very soon.

PTA president M.K. Virmani, when contacted, denied most of the charges. He said that since a room was being made available to the nursery sections in the school, there was no need to construct an additional room.

However, at a later stage if a room is needed, it will be constructed. The accounts are presented before everyone at the annual general body meeting and cannot be made available every now and then, he clarified. He also denied the fact that contracts have ever been given to a PTA member.

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