In a shocking move, a private school in Coimbatore has expelled students over discussions of parents made in a class WhatsApp group regarding the online classes the school conducts.
Coimbatore: In a shocking move, a private school in Coimbatore has expelled students from attending online classes allegedly citing a private WhatsApp group formed by the parents to discuss on online classes and fee payment.
Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB), a CBSE school at Vadavalli in Coimbatore, which operates out of Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad as well, has more than 500 students on roll. Although educational institutions remain closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown,many have online classes in place for the continuation of the academic year. PSBB is one such school where online classes have commenced.
Twin children of Aruna from Vadavalli study in class 4 at PSBB. The school had informed them that classes would commence from June 1 and an official WhatApp group was formed by the school with parents and teachers as members. Access to information such as links, IDs and passwords to attend the online classes were shared in the group.
On June 3, right in the middle of a session, Aruna's twin children who were attending the online class were removed from the group and were denied access to the attend classes. Puzzled by the denial of access, Aruna and the kids were clueless of what could have happenedWhile Aruna initially thought it could be some technical issue, soon she suspected of a foul play by the school, recalls Aruna.
To clarify the happenings, Aruna took no time to contact the Administrative Officer of the school, Jeevarathinam. As he was not able to give any conclusive answers but had asked Aruna to contactHemalatha, the Principal of the School.
"Perturbed by the callous answers from the administration, I immediately mailed to the Principal questioning their decison to remove my children from the classes. However, none responded. Meanwhile, I had to turn my attention towards my kids who were mentally stressed and embarrassed after they were removed from the classes", told Aruna.
Speaking to us Aruna said, "It is shocking to see that schools can behave in such an unpredictable and unreliable manner. We are ready to take the issue even to Courts to seek justice because of the tremendous amount of mental stress my children and I went through."
She further said, "Due the lockdown children suffered the most. The commencement of online classes was a welcome relief for them. However, the sudden dismissal from school and it's activities has caused more stress."
Aruna has even sent an email to the District Collector detailing the events with proof. It has also come to light that many other parents have also been affected in a similar manner and their children have been subjected to such sudden and shocking removals. "Parents of the students formed a WhatsApp group and there have been discussions regarding fees and online classes. This is the reason for the dismissal" she said and added, "however, I have not made any comments neither regarding the classes nor the fees. Whatever be the reason, it does not warrant such action."
One of the parents said, "this incident has caused us so much stress and disquiet and we are determined to take the issue to court. With a slew of livelihood issues such as uncertainty around jobs, pay cuts, etc., this unwarranted behaviour of the school has brought about additional stress, not just to the parents but also the children."
Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB), a CBSE school at Vadavalli in Coimbatore, which operates out of Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad as well, has more than 500 students on roll. Although educational institutions remain closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown,many have online classes in place for the continuation of the academic year. PSBB is one such school where online classes have commenced.
Twin children of Aruna from Vadavalli study in class 4 at PSBB. The school had informed them that classes would commence from June 1 and an official WhatApp group was formed by the school with parents and teachers as members. Access to information such as links, IDs and passwords to attend the online classes were shared in the group.
On June 3, right in the middle of a session, Aruna's twin children who were attending the online class were removed from the group and were denied access to the attend classes. Puzzled by the denial of access, Aruna and the kids were clueless of what could have happenedWhile Aruna initially thought it could be some technical issue, soon she suspected of a foul play by the school, recalls Aruna.
To clarify the happenings, Aruna took no time to contact the Administrative Officer of the school, Jeevarathinam. As he was not able to give any conclusive answers but had asked Aruna to contactHemalatha, the Principal of the School.
"Perturbed by the callous answers from the administration, I immediately mailed to the Principal questioning their decison to remove my children from the classes. However, none responded. Meanwhile, I had to turn my attention towards my kids who were mentally stressed and embarrassed after they were removed from the classes", told Aruna.
Speaking to us Aruna said, "It is shocking to see that schools can behave in such an unpredictable and unreliable manner. We are ready to take the issue even to Courts to seek justice because of the tremendous amount of mental stress my children and I went through."
She further said, "Due the lockdown children suffered the most. The commencement of online classes was a welcome relief for them. However, the sudden dismissal from school and it's activities has caused more stress."
Aruna has even sent an email to the District Collector detailing the events with proof. It has also come to light that many other parents have also been affected in a similar manner and their children have been subjected to such sudden and shocking removals. "Parents of the students formed a WhatsApp group and there have been discussions regarding fees and online classes. This is the reason for the dismissal" she said and added, "however, I have not made any comments neither regarding the classes nor the fees. Whatever be the reason, it does not warrant such action."
One of the parents said, "this incident has caused us so much stress and disquiet and we are determined to take the issue to court. With a slew of livelihood issues such as uncertainty around jobs, pay cuts, etc., this unwarranted behaviour of the school has brought about additional stress, not just to the parents but also the children."