Parents protest against Shardashram school changing its curriculum to CBSE

The iconic school, which counts Sachin Tendulkar among its alumni, will be changing its name to SVN international school

A change of name and curriculum has agitated parents of students of Shardashram school in Dadar. With the academic year ending, they've also been told that the iconic school will soon be named SVN international school and switch from the state board to the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) curriculum in the next year, from Std I to V.

Parents have severely opposed this and submitted a letter to the school with over 100 signatures, requesting it to retain the state board. According to them, it is unfair to expect a child who has studied the state board curriculum till now to handle this sudden shift. They find themselves in a difficult spot also because it isn't easy to get admission to another good school in such a limited time.

'Didn't consider parents'
"They haven't even declared result of the academic year that has just ended, and now suddenly there will be an entirely new curriculum next year. They did not take the parents into consideration before making the decision. This affects us significantly, too," said a parent whose child will be going to Std IV.

Another parent of a child from Std IV said, "If the school wants to shift their curriculum, they should do it from kindergarten or Std I, which is the ideal way. Now, with a sudden shift, our children may lag behind."

Upset parents approached the Yuva Sena, youth wing of the Shiv Sena, with their troubles, after which a complaint letter was submitted to the school and the office of the Deputy Director of Education. "The school management is pressurising parents to take admission for the subsequent year in ICSE board and has merely taken verbal communication from a few PTA members," said Sainath Durge, core committee member, Yuva Sena. The complaint letter also questions on what basis was the school was allowed to change its name.

No sudden change
Subhash Jadhav, management administration officer of the school, denied the 'sudden' changes. He also said the management is meeting today to decide on the further course of action after seeing the parents' opposition.

"Talks of the school shifting to ICSE have been going on for the past two years. Everybody knows this is the current market demand. We are training teachers. Even students are being spoken to. While most of the parents are on board with the plan, there are few against it. We are not even going to charge any extra fee for it."

When asked why all classes till Std V are being shifted in one go, considering other schools generally start from one batch, Jadhav said, "We are starting from Std I to Std V because at these levels it will be easier for students to adjust. It is only in the higher classes that curriculum starts getting tougher; the transition will happen slowly there."

Deputy director of education, Rajendra Ahire, said he wasn't aware of the issue and will review the case as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the proposal to change the school's name will be tabled before the Education Committee on Friday. As per the proposal, the deputy director of education had approved the name change on July 11, 2017.

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