Parents fume, say will withdraw wards
GURGAON: The parents of pupils at Ryan International School in Sector 40 on Tuesday said if the school management reinstates Neerja Batra, they would withdraw their wards’ admission and not submit the fee.
Even though Batra did not join the school on Tuesday reporting “discomfort” with the media glare, parents are pressing on with their demand to relieve Batra of her duties—teaching or non-teaching.
“I have taken the withdrawal form and have decided to look for another school. I cannot trust the school after the suspended teacher was reinstated in Sector 40,” said Amit Sharma, a parent.
Many parents said that their wards discussed the incident for two days after Batra took classes in the Sector 40 school, where she has joined as a teacher.
Batra was the acting principal of Ryan International in Bhondsi and was suspended for negligence after the murder of an eight-year-old in the school’s bathroom on September 8.
The school administration said they cannot suspend Batra again as she joined the Sector 40 branch after an order by Gurgaon deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh absolved her of “direct responsibility”.
Singh’s order stated that since Batra “highlighted deficiencies to Ryan management multiple times about the Sohna Road branch and had no financial powers, she has not been directly held responsible”.
A group of parents met the principal of Sector 40 school and discussed their concern. They were assured that Batra would not take any classes and would be assigned a non-teaching position.
The assurance, however, does little to placate the worried parents. “We have decided to demand refund of admission charges within a week,” another parent N Kumar said. October 10 is the last date for fee submission.
Over 250 parents of children at Sector 40 school have formed a social media group and have been protesting the management’s decisions unitedly.
Meanwhile, the school management said they are doing everything that’s been asked of them by the district administration to ensure students’ safety.
The Haryana government on September 17 had made it mandatory for all government and private school to install CCTV cameras covering entire premises, to constitute safety committees, ensure safe to and fro transportation facility for students and take steps in generating awareness on good touch and bad touch.
Ryan’s Bhondsi branch had remained shut for 10 days after the incident and reopened on September 18 with the Gurgaon deputy commissioner as its administrator. But move to make parents feel safer about their wards in the school had little effect. On the first day, the school was called-off before time as children were too scared to attend classes.