Hyderabad: Parents asked to take away child from school

Hyderabad: A four-year-old student was allegedly mentally harassed in front of his peers and teachers at the Little Elly Playschool, Jubilee Hills, because the management had personal vendetta against his parents.

After her suggestions during the parent-teacher met, she received a call on January 13 informing her that her son had slapped a new female student and had to be taken away from the school immediately.

“We demanded the CCTV footage of the incident countless times but were denied the same. They kept giving us excuses like their operator was not in town and it was not working. They were offering us a refund to remove our child from the school.”

The child’s father said, “Our child started behaving strangely at home, getting scared easily, apologising whenever someone went close to him and cried uncontrollably a few times saying he was not allowed to even play with his best friend. He was also sent home in soiled pants one day without the ayah even cleaning him up.”

The parents excha-nged a series of emails with the headquarters of the playschool in Bengaluru. Preeti Bhandari, management head of Little Elly, told the parents that their Hyderabad coordinator was on leave and that they could shift their child to their centre in Gachibowli but offered no response on providing the parents CCTV footage or the insult their child faced.

The last mail sent by the management on Friday stated that the school could not cater to the mental and emotional capabilities of the child.

They also claimed that they had to speak to the parents of the child in a defensive manner because they were ‘questioned’ about the facilities in the school.

Repeatedly called names by teachers, the four-year-old child suffered at school despite external experts his parents contacted stating that the child was perfectly normal for his age.

“We even had another parent get in touch with us who explained the religious discrimination that the school shows towards students. They do not provide yoga mats to children of a particular faith,” said the mother. However, school authorities denied allegations and said mats had been ordered.

The parents approached the police for help in obtaining the CCTV footage and also complained about the cruelty meted out to their student.