Student sans transparent bag refused entry to school

A case of discrimination of a student, for failing to carry a transparent bag, has been reported from a school in the Northern Province, officials said.

A Grade 6 student of St Charles, Jaffna, was reportedly refused entry to school, as his bag was not transparent.

The student had explained that his father was disabled and could not afford to buy such a bag.

The mother had turned up at the school and told the Principal of their inability to buy a new bag, and demanded her child be given the ' School Leaving Certificate' (SLC), so that, she could admit him to another school. Consequently, the Principal had issued the certificate to the mother, through another teacher.

CTSU Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe said that National and Provincial schools were both carrying out the practice, despite an earlier MoE circular to desist.

He said that some schools were collecting Rs 500-Rs 3,000 from students of Grades 1-11, while for A/L students the sum varies from Rs 6,000-Rs 10,000. He said that the complaints from the National schools were higher than that from Provincial schools.

"We have collected sufficient evidence from parents about the malpractices,” Mr Jayasinghe said.

He said the Principals appeared to be helpless, as the MoE was not allocating sufficient funds for projects and for the schools' maintenance.

He said some of the teachers have advised the parents that, if they were not willing to donate money, they could obtain a certificate from the Grama Sevaka that they cannot pay the money.

"However, the reality is that parents are reluctant to produce such a certificate, as it would be humiliating to their children, as, invariably, such information is publicised,” he said. He said MoE would have to issue a gazette notification banning the collection of such funds.

- DW