Dehradun school removes Class 1 student, father moves child rights body

The father of a class 1 student of a Dehradun-based school has complained to the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) against the school for allegedly removing his daughter from the school roll.

Last August, the child’s father, had complained to the SCPCR that the school authorities had subscribed nine expensive reference books apart from the three CBSE books, which was increasing the pressure on the students. Last year, the high court had ordered that private schools in the state should follow books published by NCERT and if they are subscribing reference books then the price of those books should be almost equal to the NCERT books.

In his letter to the SCPCR, the father wrote that, “The Commission was still looking into my complaint from last year and meanwhile, without my consent or prior information, my daughter’s name has been removed from the school roll and a transfer certificate has been sent to my house by post.” He has mentioned in his letter that this act by the school violates Section 16 of the Right To Education Act.

The complainant has asked the Commission to look into the matter and help him get his daughter re-admitted to the same school before the start of the next academic session, so that the student does not suffer any academic loss.

The school authorities however claim that the child was removed from the school because of low attendance, which is against the policies of the school, which was duly signed by both parents at the beginning of the year through an acknowledgment form.

“The student used to be absent from school a lot, her parents did not send her regularly. The father also created ruckus with teachers and coordinators when he used to come to the school, which is why we even sent the transfer certificate by post,” a school official said.

On March 28, the school principal had written to the child’s father, a copy of which was accessed by HT, in which it was mentioned that the complainant had also threatened the school’s teachers and that he had illegitimate expectations and complaints against the school, which is why the school had taken the decision to remove the child.

It was also mentioned that the school had on December 14, 2018, during a parent-teacher meeting, informed the parents about the school’s decision and that now, the transfer certificate, final report card and a cheque with the refund of the security amount was being sent to them.