Mumbai: Kandivli school takes 22 students out of classrooms over due fees

Kapol Vidyanidhi International school at Kandivali West, Mumbai. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Kapol Vidyanidhi International School, Kandivli has come under the scanner after parents alleged that the school administration humiliated their children, after they raised their voice against "capitation and unjustified fees". A few parents lodged a complaint with the police against the management on Saturday, saying the school allegedly forced 22 students to sit in the laboratory for four days over non-payment of fees.

An officer from Kandivli police station said, "Based on the complaint, an FIR has been registered on Monday night under section 23 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. We will soon visit the school and speak to the management and principal." School principal Reshma Hegde and two others have been named in the FIR, but no arrest has been made yet.

Parents in the school premises

Another parent has also moved court against the school management and the writ petition. Some have also approached the Child Rights Commission. The parents have also alleged that the school had deployed bouncers on the school premises on Monday.

A traumatic experience

The complainant, Krina Shah, told mid-day, "My daughter is a Std IX student and I have been fighting about the fees. During the lockdowns, students didn't use the laboratory or the school premises, and there were no practical activities, but we were still charged for them. I wrote the school to not charge these fees, but the school authority was not ready to accept it. So we filed a writ petition in the court."

The complainant parents along with MNS leader Dinesh Salvi at Kandivli police station

"On April 1, my daughter and one of her classmates were asked by their class teacher to leave the class," she said, adding, "They were then directed to the physics lab. According to my daughter, there were already 20-25 students present who had outstanding fees. It was extremely traumatic for all of these students who faced the discrimination."

Shah said, "We approached the Kandivli police the very next day but they refused to register a case. We then took help of MNS leader Dinesh Salvi, following which our complaint was accepted. We need justice for our kids so that not a single kid gets this type of punishment in future."

MNS leader Dinesh Salvi told mid-day, "The police were not ready to register an FIR. Later we met the police and forced them to register the FIR to give justice to the students and parents. Police should arrest the principal and the two HODs."

The issue

"The matter is in the court now, as parents are unwilling to pay extra-curricular and other activities fees that were being charged by the school. If they did not use buses during the lockdown, then why should they pay transportation fees? The school should have waited till the court's verdict. Punishing kids in this manner is illegal," said Salvi.

Jayant Jain from Forum for Fairness in Education said, "Those parents opposed or have not paid the fees as many heads under fee structure were unjustified and illegal. And yet, the school had the audacity to discriminate and humiliate the children."

Navnath Vanve, education inspector, Mumbai West zone, said, "We learned about the FIR filed by the parents, and we are dispatching an officer to probe the matter and take appropriate action."

School Speak

When contacted, principal Dr Hegde told mid-day, "The problem has been there since the past two years. There were parents who sought assistance, demanding concessions in fees during the lockdown. We had asked them to give a letter/undertaking stating their financial issues for us to consider their request. We had received over 500 letters and gave concessions to many genuine cases, even a waiver to a few parents of around Rs 75 lakh. However, some parents are demanding further reductions, which is not possible. We do not want to discontinue the education of students, hence we accommodated them in the physics lab and gave them basic lessons. The allegation that we harassed students is false. They were not subjected to any humiliation."

She added, "We already sent 10 notices to the parents to pay pending fees but they were not ready. We will send them legal notices."

Cop Speak

Speaking with mid-day Senior Inspector Dinkar Jadhav said, "We have registered the case against the Kapol International School principal Reshma Hegde and Head Of Department Toral and Susham under Section 23 in The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 for mentally harassing 10-15 students in the school over a non-payment of fees. The students were kept in the lab instead of classrooms."

1 April
Day the incident took place