Schools reopen in Kolkata, yellow-card entry for kids with no dues – Times of India

KOLKATA: Ashok Hall School, Mahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar and G D Birla Centre for Education reopened their gates on Monday to those students whose parents have cleared their pending fees, following a two-day shutdown. While these students were given special identity cards, the rest stayed away from the schools, ensuring a smooth reopening. Parents of students who were denied entry moved the Calcutta High Court on Monday.
Anju Sharma, social activist aiding the petitioning parents, said, “The children of the protesting parents went to their respective schools but each of them was denied entry. The children and their parents immediately went to the HC thereafter asking for a hearing. We had decided earlier that if this happened we would not perform any demonstration in front of the school but rather go straight to the court.”
Guardians dropping off their wards remained around the school grounds to ensure that the re-integration was smooth after the fee-related agitation by parents that rocked the campuses during the previous week.
Police personnel were appointed at each of the schools to supervise the smooth flow of crowds and vehicles in the respective areas. Having anticipated the need to restrict petitioning parents embroiled in the fee hike dispute, a police officer said, “The school reopening notice implied that those who have not paid fees will not be allowed to enter. So many people expected a commotion here. But everything has gone pretty smoothly.”
A father of a Class-VI student at G D Birla said, “The students who have cleared all their dues and promoted to the next class have been given a new yellow ID card. So it is very easy to let them into the school. I have not witnessed any tension today. I do not think children whose parents are petitioning in the HC have come today.”
On Sunday, Moumita Chanda, a spokesperson for the protesting parents, organized a press conference and said it was decided that the they would discontinue demonstration and stick to legal measures to solve the dispute.
A section of parents whose children attended school on Monday said the sudden shutdown had left them in great anxiety and in the case of a new round of closure in response to future agitations, they will protest and insist on keeping the schools open. “The new principal has indicated an interest in redressal through communication. If such a situation repeats, we want to speak to the management to ensure that classes are not stopped,” said Manosha Banerjee, a parent.
“Our daughters love school. Due to media frenzy, my daughter was scared. I had to console her this morning and tell her that everything will be okay,” said Nibedita Manna Sarkar, another parent.
“There should be no divisiveness between those who paid fees and those who haven’t. We all want our kids to be able to come to school every day. Some parents have genuine problems paying the fees. Overall, every student and parent is attached to this school and we want the issues to settle down quickly,” said Sapna Chatterjee, whose daughter is in Class IX at G D Birla.