Schools want ‘documentary evidence’, parents wince

“A passport is a document made after a lengthy verification process, its ridiculous that the school refused to accept it,” said Shalini Langar, whose application was rejected since her daughter’s passport failed to meet the “one year validity” criterion. Sanjay Singh, another parent, said, “There are ways to bypass rules. People can rent a place on lease and get a phone issued so they’ll have a four- or five-month old phone bill. The form is ambiguous and confusing.”

In its ‘acceptable proof of residence’ category, the form mentions ration card, driving licence, electricity/MTNL phone bill. It adds the document should have a minimum one-year validity.

“Documents like passports and licences have an expiry date, so ‘validity’ can also mean that they should not have expired,” says Singh.

Tagore International has decided to admit only children who have lived in the particular neighbourhood for more than a year. Earlier, Modern School, Barakhamba Road had also asked parents to submit bills that were more than six months old as proof of residence, say parents. The school says the condition is justified. “Last year, we got cases where parents had moved homes temporarily only to get admission. Once the child was admitted, they returned to their older homes,” said Principal Madhulika Sen. “It is only to prevent such cases that we have made it imperative for parents to submit a proof of residence with a year’s validity,” said Sen.

Parents alleged the school asked them for Rs 100 as ‘processing fee’ at the time of submission of forms in addition to the Rs 100 charged for the initial purchase of the form and prospectus.

“There was no mention of the ‘processing fee’ on the form or the website” said parents.

Sen clarified, “The processing charge was clearly mentioned on the school notice board.”