Ghaziabad: Parents protest shifting of students to DDPS’ new branch Madhuban Bapudham

Majority of the students have already been transferred to the new branch, only a few are objecting and they are supported by some outside elements, said a school official

A group of parents, members of a parents’ association and others have started an indefinite sit-in strike outside Dehradun Public School, popularly known as DDPS in Sector 23, Sanjay Nagar, against the school allegedly “forcing” students of Classes 6 and 7 to study at their new branch at Madhuban Bapudham.

The protesting parents said the school officials told them that the transfer was required to facilitate some proposed construction work at the Sector 23 branch. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The parents said they met different district and police officers besides school authorities over the issue, but none intervened to sort the matter out.

According to school officials, the Sector 23 branch has about 2,500 students on its rolls and about 350 of them are being transferred to their new branch at Madhuban Bapudham.

“I got my son admitted at the Sector 23 branch, deposited fees, paid for transport and bought books for the new session. On April 8, they sent my son to the new branch at Mahduban Bapudham. I came to know only when my child returned from school that day. When we objected, the staff bluntly told us we could either take a transfer certificate and move the child elsewhere or send the child to the new branch,” said Pooja Chaudhary, a resident of Lohiya Nagar.

She said the bus now takes about an hour to reach the new school, while it took about 20 minutes earlier from her home to the Sector 23 school.

The parents said the school officials told them that the transfer was required to facilitate some proposed construction work at the Sector 23 branch.

“My daughter studies in class 7 and my son is in class 6. The new branch is about five kilometres from my house and is in an isolated place. There is no construction going on. The school just wants to show students in their new branch in order to gain new admissions,” said Rita Chaudhary, another parent and resident of New Friends Colony.

The parents have also been given support by Ghaziabad Parents’ Association.

“Several meetings have been held with the police and administration officials. In a meeting on Wednesday, when administration officials asked the school staff to inform their senior officials/owner, they replied that they were busy in election campaigning for a political party... It seems that the school authorities are above the law,” said Vivek Tyagi, spokesperson of the association.

“Earlier, the principal had issued a letter in which it was stated that the children would not be shifted to the new branch. However, the school later retracted that letter,” Tyagi said.

Gambhir Singh, additional district magistrate (city), said, “Several meetings have been held with school authorities and we have issued a notice to them seeking the reason for transferring students to the new branch. If they fail to respond, we will start the process to cancel the nod for operations.”

Assistant commissioner of police (Kavi Nagar), Abhishek Srivastava, said the matter is being dealt with by the administration officials and “if they find it feasible, an FIR may be lodged in parents’ complaints.”

The school officials said the transfer was necessary to facilitate renovation work at the Sector 23 school.

“The transfer of students would be only for the duration of renovation. Majority of students, about 90%, have already been transferred to the new branch and only a few are objecting and they are supported by some outside elements. The letter issued by the principal earlier was issued while considering the upcoming elections so that there is no law and order issue,” said Sandeep Chauhan, school manager.