Stir against second city Orchids school over fake CBSE affiliation

Over a hundred parents on Saturday gathered in front of the Orchids The International School in Panathur in the city

Days after the department of public instruction (DDPI) filed a criminal complaint against the Nagarabhavi branch of Orchids The International School in Bengaluru for allegedly falsely claiming affiliation with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), parents protested against another branch of the school on Saturday.

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Over a hundred parents on Saturday gathered in front of the Orchids The International School in Panathur in the city, alleging that the school administration falsely promoted themselves as a CBSE school and duped them of lakhs of rupees in fees.

The issue came to light after the school administration informed the parents that their children would be writing the exams in the state syllabus. The parents have expressed their outrage against the school, saying that the students have been taught the CBSE syllabus throughout the year and are now asking them to write the exams for the state syllabus.

The parents alleged that the school administration told the students that it is enough to write the exam and that the administration would evaluate it well and give marks. “We enrolled our children here, assuming it is a good school. The school has also received NOC from the Education Department this year. We also doubt if this school have received permission from the state education department,” a parent said.

The school has taken ₹1.5 lakh as fees for class 5 and ₹12,500 for CBSE books, the parents claimed, adding that they have been cheated by the administration.

Meanwhile, the school administration apologised to the parents for the confusion and explained there had been a miscommunication regarding the syllabus.

“We are running state syllabus. We will discuss this with the parents. Already discussion is going on with the parents. We will address the issue,” Sanjay, the in-charge manager of the school said.

On January 25, an FIR was registered by the Annapoorneshwari Nagar Police Station against St Theresa Educational, Cultural and Social Development Society, the trust that operates Orchids The International School after similar allegations were made against Orchids The International School in Nagarabhavi.

The FIR named Ralph Andrade, president of St Theresa Educational, Cultural and Social Development Society; Sanjay L, the trust secretary; Manjula B, the school principal and an unnamed managing partner of K12 Techno Services Pvt. Ltd. They were booked under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Rajashekhar HG, the block education officer (BEO) of Bengaluru South (1), said that action was initiated based on directions from Baylanjanappa, the deputy director of public instruction (DDPI) for Bengaluru South.

The issue came to light after the school started providing state syllabus books to students of classes 5 and 8, recently. The school, which is under the state board, has permission to operate till Class 8. However, they were found to be operating classes 9 and 10. The school was also allegedly sending students to take the examination for Class 10 to its other branches in the city, which have CBSE licences.

“During admissions, they told us that Orchids The International School was affiliated with the CBSE board. My daughter is studying at UKG. I’m dropping her to this school, which is far away from my place, only because it is a CBSE school. Now, they are saying that it is not a CBSE school but affiliated with the state,” a parent said.

“They are not agreeing to reduce the school fees. Now that there is one month to go for the exams, they have told us that it is the state syllabus. We have been cheated,” another parent said.

In July 2022, two branches of the Orchid school – Magadi Road and Haralur Road – were shut as they were operating without permission.