School suspends 350 students for skipping I-Day function

When the students gathered for the morning assembly after a two-day break, including Raksha Bandhan holiday and Sunday, those who had attended the Friday8217;s function in the school premises were asked to leave for classes, but not before the staff crosschecked their Friday attendance.

Barring a few students of Class I to Class V, all junior students had attended the function that included, besides flag hoisting and singing of the national anthem, a short cultural programme.

In a gathering of 1,473 students, 350 students of Class VI to XII were left to anticipate the likely punishment.

Some of them were made to come to the dais and speak a few lines on Independence Day and why it was important. 8220;They could not go beyond a couple of lines,8221; said chairperson of Malwa Education Society Dolly Luthra. 8220;Some of them later admitted that they watched a recently released movie 8212; Bachna Ae Haseeno. They had time to watch a three-hour film but not for a 40-minute mandatory function of national importance,8221; she told The Indian Express on what prompted such a harsh action against the students.

The erring students were handed suspension letters within an hour and bundled into school buses that took them home. 8220;They started calling up frantically and some of them arrived and gave apology letters,8221; she said, adding that the idea was also to teach the parents a lesson.

The school calendar mentions that the attendance for August 15 and January 26 functions is mandatory. While the junior students were issued circulars last week, seniors were told that attendance was compulsory.

Some of the parents did express displeasure at the harsh punishment, but most seemed to have fallen in line. 8220;More than 150 of them called up to apologise,8221; the school PRO said.

The management has called a meeting at 2 pm on Tuesday when the society office-bearers would take a call on continuing the punishment. The school has taken disciplinary action against individuals but never en mass.

While all teachers had turned up, the school8217;s DTP operator had a tough time explaining his absence when he arrived on Monday.

When he maintained that he had to take his wife to a hospital he was asked to go home and get the papers, which he did.