School 'demands Rs 1 lakh bribe' to pass class 9 student

The father of a class 9 student at Tunbridge High School, Infantry Road, has accused the headmaster of demanding Rs one lakh as bribe to promote his daughter to the next class.

A Balamurugan, whose daughter Gayathri B is a student at the school, said the results for class 9 were to be declared on Wednesday. The school authorities, however, called him up on April 6, saying his daughter had failed.

“The headmaster, Ajoy Biswas, called to ask us what we were going to do. He also said that we had two options: get a transfer certificate or pay up Rs one lakh as donation and they will let her pass,” the father told Deccan Herald. “Out of desperation, I said I could pay only Rs 25,000 as we are not well-off but he didn’t agree to this.”

The girl’s family tried to approach Maureen Ojha, the school principal, two days after the offer, but in vain. They finally confronted the school authorities on Wednesday. Balamurugan claimed that the school had similar offers to other parents.

“Many of these parents didn’t come forward today fearing the consequences. In my daughter’s class alone, at least three other students were given similar offers,” he said.

Girl wants to continue
The girl had been studying at the school since LKG. She scored 54 per cent marks in class 8 and wants to continue studying at the school despite the unsavoury development, her family said.

V Ramesh, Block Education Officer, North-3 under whose jurisdiction the school falls, confirmed that he had heard about the incident but couldn’t visit the school as he had to attend a meeting on SSLC exams.

However, an education co-ordinator from the BEO’s office was sent instead and he will submit a report on the matter, he added.

“I myself will visit the school tomorrow (Thursday) and take stock of the situation.” School authorities were not available for comment.