Delhi school forced four siblings to miss their studies after their father, who had lost his job following an accident, couldn't pay their dues
Delhi school forced four siblings to miss their studies after their father, who had lost his job following an accident, couldn't pay their dues
Class X student Akib is a dejected person these days. He has been barred from attending classes by his school, Sanjeevani Public School in Uttam Nagar, because his parents were not able to pay his fee.u00a0 And Akib is not alone. His other siblings Sakib, Nahid and Nasreen, students of class VIII, class V and IV respectively of the same school too have been barred from their classes for the same reason.
The children have been studying in this school from nursery and their parents have been paying their fee regularly since then. But last year their father Mohd Atiullah met with an accident and from then onwards their troubles started.
Exams over: Julekha Khatoon, mother of the four kids, said the school
principal did not allow them to sit for their annual exams in spite of
repeated requests. Pic/Mid Day
"As far as paying the fee is concerned, we had been doing that regularly for all our kids right from their nursery classes. However, last year my husband met with an accident which was followed by a prolonged illness and due to this he had been out of job for long.
Only recently he took up a job as a tailor in a private boutique. We pleaded with the principal in person and even sent him written requests to let the children sit for the annual exams this year. But I was sent back with my kids. They showed complete indifference to our problem," said a perplexed Julekha Khatoon, mother of these students.
The combined fee of all the four children amounts to Rs 10,000 annually. Realising that they won't be able to afford this amount anymore, the couple then requested the school to issue Transfer Certificates (TCs) to the children to enableu00a0 them to seek admission in government school but the school even denied them that and insisted they clear all the dues first. 
"My eldest son is in class X and he could have cleared his board exams this year. But he was not issued his roll number by the school. We requested the principal that we will pay the fee in instalments and they allow my son to sit for the examination. Instead, the principal said that if we could afford to have our food and pay our rent, then why can't we pay the fee and why should she understand our problem? My kids are very disturbed," said Atiullah.
MiD DAY made repeated attempts to contact the principal but she was not available for the comment. The school manager said they were not aware of any such case.
Social Jurist and president of All India Parents Association Ashok Aggarwal condemned the incident. "Such an action on the part of school is totally unethical and arbitrary. It is also a violation Right to Education Act. The school was also not justified in refusing the TCs merely because the parents were unable to deposit fees as demanded by the school," he said.
"If the school has let the kids and their parents suffer and harassed them, it is a violation of the RTE. A notice would be issued soon to the defaulting school," said Amod Kanth, chairman, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR).
Disabled unfriendly?
MiD DAY had reported on February 17, 2011, that a five-year-old with 75 per cent physical disability was denied admission by several institutions in Delhi. Akshtiz Birmani, father of Aditya Birmani, claimed he was denied admission forms for his son in most east Delhi schools on the grounds that the child is disabled.
Later when he did get to apply to Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, he was told after the admission list was put out that Aditya could not be given a seat as they do not have any criteria to admit physically disabled children.
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