Bengaluru schools hold classes in vacation & ‘it’s not a cool idea’

Bengaluru: It is summer vacation and schools are closed across the state till May 29. However, some private unaided schools in Bengaluru are
forcing children to attend classes.

Parents of students in such schools have raised objections and approached the Karnataka School and College Parents’ Associations’ Co-Ordination Committee, requesting to take up the issue before the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR).

Following complaints received from parents, the committee has filed a petition before the commission, requesting to protect the rights of the children.

B N Yogananda, president of the committee, told DH, “All these years some schools used to conduct special classes for grade 10 students. But this year, several schools are functioning even during summer vacation and conducting regular classes for grade 5 and above.”

He said the committee had demanded severe action against such schools.

“We have even given a list of schools to the commission as per the complaints received and demanded that the authorities visit such schools and initiate action as it is the right of the children to get vacation twice a year,” Yogananda said.

The mother of a child studying in a CBSE-affiliated school on Mysuru Road said, “My child is in class 5 and they made attendance mandatory. Even during holidays, we are not able to take kids out.”

The parent of a student at a school in Rajajinagar told DH, “When all other kids in our apartment complex are playing outside, our children are going to school. Fearing that the school may target
the children, we decided to be quiet.”

The Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka has called this “a commercial activity and an inhuman act”.

D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the association, said, “It is not just a violation of the rights of the children, but inhuman as the temperature is rising every day.” 

When contacted K Naganna Gowda, chairperson of KSCPCR, said he had received the complaints and he would be issuing notice to the schools.