Vashi school refuses admission to child of single mother

Representation picture

The St Lawrence High School in Vashi was much talked about on social media recently, after its principal allegedly refused admission to the child of a single mother. The aggrieved woman posted the video of the principal shouting at her saying admission was refused as she is a single mother, on social media, and it soon went viral. The school management has taken cognisance of the incident and initiated an inquiry.

Sujata Mohite, a manager in a private firm, is divorced. She wanted admission for her son Viraj Patil in Std II at St Lawrence School, Vashi. He studied in a school in Nerul, which was affiliated to the ICSE board and Mohite wanted to admit him to an SSC board school.

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"As I was taking my son out of a good ICSE school, I wanted an equally good SSC board school. This school in Vashi had good results so I approached them for admission. Initially I was called to the school for a discussion when they got to know that I am a single mother. The next day they told me that admission was full. I found it fishy and so I called from another number asking for admission to the same class, pretending to be different person. They responded positively and asked me to approach the school office. When I visited again I shot the video, as they got to know that I was the same person and then the principal, Saira Kennedy, started shouting at me, saying I had been refused admission because I was a single parent.

Mohite added, "This is absurd. How can this be a reason to deny admission to a child? I am capable of paying the fees of the school and can take care of my child alone. I also showed them fee-receipts of previous schools where I have paid regularly. If a parent has died, will the other parent need to re-marry only to get admission for his/her child?" Mohite admitted Viraj to another SSC board school. She has not yet lodged a complaint with the authorities.

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A spokesperson of the management of the school, the Ryan International Group, said, "As an educational institution, we do not discriminate in admitting students under any criteria nor do we have any such policy for parents. In the given case, as the video has just come to our attention, we are investigating the issue and will take appropriate action."

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