Hyderabad: A day after the education department prohibited corporal punishment in schools, the MNR School in Serlingampally allegedly punished students who had failed to pay the late fees. The students were made to sit on the floor outside their classrooms for three hours on Friday.
Mr D. Narsingh, father of one of the students who was punished, said that he had gone to pay the fees, but the school had demanded late payment charges as well.
“My kids have been studying at the school for the past few years. I regularly pay the fees, but this time the payment was delayed. When I went to pay the fees a few days back, the school authorities asked me to pay the late payment charges as well. I refused to pay because I am a poor man. I am paying their fees with difficulty. Even before I came to pay the fees on Friday, my daughter was made to sit outside her class. I am lodging a police complaint against the school at the Chandanagar police station,” he says.
Ms Lavanya, the principal of MNR School, said that the students’ parents are habitual defaulters.
“Last year also they did not pay the fees. Every time they delay payment, we call them and ask them to pay the fees. Because they did not pay the fees last year, I asked them to pay the late fees, which the parents refused to pay. So we had to punish the children.”
Members of the Hyderabad School Parents Associations say that this incident is indicative of how little schools care about the laws that are in place.
They say that they do not expect any change to occur unless the government begins taking strict action against schools.
