Kerala school allegedly insisted on revealing caste and religion for first-standard admission

An aided school in Thiruvananthapuram city allegedly insisted on revealing the caste and religion of a child for giving admission in first-standard.

St. Mary's Higher Secondary School at Pattom in Thiruvananthapuram city, which is one of the largest schools in Asia in terms of students' strength, has caught up in the row. The Kerala Education department launched an enquiry into the matter.

Couple Nazeem and Dhanya, residing in the city, had alleged that the school authorities insisted that caste and religion of their son should be shown in the admission form. As the couple objected to it, the school authorities said that either the parents should give an affidavit in this regard to seek admission in any government schools.

After the issue became controversial, the school authorities reportedly offered admission to the student without mentioning caste and religion. But the parents were unwilling to take admission at the school anymore concerned over the child's future at the school.

Nazeem said that his son had even cleared a preliminary assessment test done at the school. Then only the school authorities insisted on mentioning caste and religion. "We told them that we did not intend to mention any caste for the child and even pointed out that there were directives that the caste or religion of students need not be revealed for seeking admission," he said.

Authorities of the school, which is run by Thiruvananthapuram Major Archdiocese of Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, maintained that the parents were asked to give an affidavit as the school authorities should not be held responsible in future for denial of any government benefits to the student. Many government schemes for students were based on caste and religion. Hence the parents were asked to give such an affidavit, said public relations officer of the Archdiocese Fr. Bovas Mathew Meloot