Vasai school principal snips student’s hair for not ironing uniform

The Class 10 student of St Anthony’s Convent School, Vasai (West) was pulled up by the school’s principal, Sister Rufina Toscano, for not ironing his uniform. He was then allegedly dragged to her office where the principal snipped off the student’s hair.

The principal of a Vasai school cut a Class 10 student’s hair on Monday morning for not ironing his uniform. The school later issued a written apology to the parent and said the action was a disciplinary measure.

Although the Vasai school issued a written apology for cutting the student’s hair, it said the action was a disciplinary measure. (Agencies (Representative Photo))

The Class 10 student of St Anthony’s Convent School, Vasai (West) was pulled up by the school’s principal, Sister Rufina Toscano, for not ironing his uniform. He was then allegedly dragged to her office where the principal snipped off the student’s hair.

“My son told me that the principal dragged him by the collar to her office and snipped his hair,” said the boy’s father, who works as an electrician at WR, Mahalaxmi car shed.

He then rushed to the school for an explanation.

“At first, the authorities did not even budge. I had insisted on an apology and threatened to report the incident to the Vasai Gaon police,” the father said.

The student is said to be in depression and has told his father he will not attend school due to the incident.

The school’s principal said the incident was a case of misunderstanding.

“We have already expressed our apology to the parent and have assured him that his ward will not face any hardship in our school. We will also insure that as the March 2019 board exams are nearing, his studies will not be disturbed,” said Toscano.

The principal, however, said that the action was a measure of discipline as the school diary mentions that students need to maintain a proper dress code and need to be properly groomed.

“Time and again our teachers also instruct the students to follow the same,” said Toscano. “We just snipped the student’s hair so that the parent’s take notice and send their wards in a proper dress code.”