JOIN USEducation dept apathy irks Orchids school parents
Four days after a three-year-old girl was sexually abused at Orchids The International School here, parents are furious with education department officials for leaving them in the lurch.
Even as the police arrested Gundappa (45), an office assistant, on Saturday, a parents’ meeting convened at the school drew flak as they found it to be “eyewash”.
Police Commissioner M N Reddi interacted with the parents and assured them of safety of their children. The parents said several questions remained unanswered as no senior official from the education department turned up for the meeting.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, some parents said the only representative from the education department was Block Education Officer Basavaraje Gowda whose answer to all their questions was that he was “new to the post”.
The chairman of the school management did not attend the meeting. The school has been functioning without a principal for the last four months.
At the meeting, it was decided that classes would re-open on Monday. Only those classes that have proper recognition from the state government–classes I to V–will commence.
“For the other classes they have sought three to four days time,” a parent who attended the meeting told Deccan Herald. According to a parent Bhagyashree Rai, the school had promised CBSE syllabus from classes I to III, ICSE from classes IV to VI and IGCSE syllabus from class VII.
The school has permission only to conduct classes from I to V in Kannada medium.
Meanwhile, the parents also complained that the school did not encourage active participation in monitoring its activities. They plan to hold a demonstration in front of the school campus at Jalahalli on Sunday.