Pvt. school ‘blocks’ students from online classes

Pvt. school ‘blocks’ students from online classes

07/06/2020, STAFF REPORTER

A private school in Coimbatore has blocked 15 students from its online classes as a punitive measure for the alleged derogatory messages posted by their parents against the school.

M. Aruna, mother of two Class IV students at the school in Vadavalli, said that her children were unable to log in from June 3 for the online classes, which is being conducted for students of Classes I to V from June 1. In a letter addressed to District Collector K. Rajamani, a copy of which she shared with The Hindu, she alleged that the class teacher also removed her from a WhatsApp group meant for communication of “academic details to the parents” by the school.

An official from the school reportedly told her, “The management instructed me to remove list of parents from the group and also not to permit their kids to attend online classes because those parents have posted message in social media against the school (sic),” she said in the letter. However, Ms. Aruna denied posting anything derogatory against the school on social media platforms. “I was added to a parents association group which was a discussion forum among the parents (sic),” she claimed in the letter, adding that she shared a media report regarding online classes in the group.

When contacted, a senior official from the school said that 10 parents were allegedly circulating messages in WhatsApp group against online classes conducted by the school.

Once the school management came to know about these messages, they instructed the teachers to not allow the children of these 10 parents, he said.

“We are not against the children,” the official said, claiming that missing these classes will not affect their academic performance as it is not mandatory.

The 10 parents must write a letter explaining the situation to the school principal, following which the students will be allowed to participate in the online classes again, according to the official.

Coimbatore Chief Educational Officer P. Usha said that the issue has come to her notice and an inquiry is under way.