A group of parents and parents’ association members staged a protest in front of Orchids International School at BTM Layout in Bengaluru over an uninformed change in campus for nursery students.
On Tuesday morning, many parents gathered in front of the school, questioning the management about the unilateral decision.
Sathya (name changed), one of the parents said that the school took a sudden, uninformed decision to change its campus causing inconvenience to parents and students. “Some parents noticed at 9.30 am that students were being taken by bus to another campus. That’s when parents even found out that such an arrangement was in place. No formal communication was sent to parents about this. How can such a move be done without common consent?” he questioned.
Other parents alleged that the management threatened parents to take their children home if they disagreed with the new arrangement.
The school has been in the news for the wrong reasons even in the recent past. Video of a school teacher allegedly forcing a Hindu child to pray to Allah had sent ripples. Besides, pertaining to the Horamavu branch of Orchids International, there was social media outrage over students being given incentives for not using washrooms and inadequate infrastructure.
When contacted, the school refused to clarify the issue at length. In a statement, they said that nursery classes to the children of some “interested parents” was only offered “as an additional service” and that the classes were discontinued here to “enhance focus in operating from grade K1 to 12”.
In what they termed as “convenience of parents” who said no intimation was received in this regard, the school said they tied up with a nearby orchids institute which provides nursery classes.
“We had given much advanced intimation to all the concerned parents, with an option to move to a nearby institute or any other institute of their choice. Some parents have agreed, and some have disagreed and are not willing to move out. Therefore, we are willing to make it as convenient as possible for disagree parents to find an alternative,” the school said.
“There is little that the education department can do in this because they are not as strictly governed as primary to high schools. This will be a case under section 420 of the IPC if such an incident has occurred. It must be dealt with locally,” said Vishal R, commissioner, department of public instruction.
Also read: Bengaluru student alleges teacher forced her to pray to Allah