School has kids write, ‘I will not forget to bring ₹300 tomorrow’, 30 times

A school in Mumbai faced criticism after asking students to write a sentence 30 times as punishment for their parents not paying diary and identity card charges. A parent complained to the school's management, which has promised action against the teacher.

Mumbai: The New Horizon Scholar’s School, on Godhbundar Road, Thane, decided to remind parents of around five to eight students about an approaching deadline to pay the charges for their diaries and identity cards by asking the students to write ‘I will not forget to bring ₹300 tomorrow’ 30 times on Monday. The deadline for the submission is April 20.

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A parent of a student, on condition of anonymity, said: “This is unforgivable because my traumatised son was not ready to go to school the next day.” Another parent’s son who faced the punishment said: “The children could have been made to write a paragraph from a text book five times instead of this sentence. My son is humiliated. Who will pay for his emotional distress caused by the incident?”

If this punitive measure was not harsh enough, when a girl student refused to obey, “the teacher sent her to a corner of the classroom and told her to write it while standing,” said another parent.

On Tuesday, a parent reported the incident to the management on the school’s WhatsApp group, following which the vice principal called and had a word with him. The parent said, “This was the first time I entered the school. We have wanted to meet teachers many times in the past but were refused audience. We were not even allowed to enter the school. However, now the vice principal has assured action against the teacher, but it doesn’t answer the humiliation our children have faced.” The parent added that their group has requested the management in the past not to involve students in the matter of fees.

Despite HT’s repeated attempts, Jyoti Nair, regional director and principal, of New Horizon Scholar’s School refused to comment.