Mumbai: Key Andheri school, lifeline for the poor, strangled for profit, say locals

Locals protest outside the M A High School in Andheri

Locals held a protest outside M A High School on S V Road, Andheri on Tuesday, alleging that it has stopped new admissions, in order to show a dwindling number of students to eventually close down. They fear they will lose out on the affordable quality education the school offers, if this happens. The over 80-year-old school has been the preferred choice for many locals for its affordable, quality English medium education. The secondary section is supported with government aid which ensures minimal fees. This has made it a much sought-after school, especially for those from underprivileged backgrounds. The school currently has over a thousand students.

"Why else would they refuse admissions? My children have studied here and now we are trying to get admission for my grandchildren. We trust the quality of education given here," said Fatima Sayyed, a local, adding she was not even allowed to enter the school to submit admission applications. "I was asked to
hand over my admission application to the watchman at the gate. There, two applications for Std V and VII were accepted, but for Std I, I was told there will be no admission," she said.

Many locals narrated similar instances. While Fatima's youngest grandchild's std I admission is the new application, for the older grandkids, the shift in school is due to financial crisis amid the pandemic. "We cannot afford the fees of other private schools in the locality," said Fatima.

The former corporator says they have approached the school education department regarding the issue

Mohsin Haider, former corporator, has been approached by many locals with their grievances regarding the school. "When the new academic year has begun in all other schools in the city; here, parents are still struggling to get admissions as they have closed the process. Admissions to the pre-primary section were closed a couple of years ago. Then too we raised the issue, but there is no regulatory body for pre-primary sections of schools. Now when they are refusing admission to Std I, we have approached the school education department," he said. "The management is showing a constantly diminishing number of students and conveniently hiding the fact that they have stopped admissions. This clearly indicates their plan to close down the school eventually," said Haider, adding that he has also met School Education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Tuesday with the issue. As per the information provided by Haider, after the school management stopped admission to pre-primary section, "Those who were in Senior KG were asked by school management to look for admissions elsewhere, and so we stepped in to help parents. We will continue our fight."

"The agitation last year led to the admission of 17 students to std I. And now the management is refusing new admissions to Std I. Already there was no admission in pre-primary so there will be no in-house students too. Strict security is in place at the school gate so nobody comes seeking admission," said a teacher from the school. The staff too is worried, they will lose jobs.

School refutes allegations

Dr Madhuri Ahire, headmistress of the primary section of the school, refuted all the allegations. She said, "Admissions are supposed to happen in the month of December or January but we did not receive any applications then. Now in June when the new academic year has resumed, we have received a few applications for admissions which we have forwarded to the management." But when asked the number of students currently in std I, Ahire said, "There are none as we do not have a pre-primary section to get students admitted to class I from Senior KG. The pre-primary section is closed."

Refuting the allegation that last year std I admissions were done after locals agitated, Ahire said, "Last year, out of a total of 41 students in Senior KG only 17 reported to school for admission to std I and they were given admission."

‘No plan to shut school'

Jesus Lall, honorary trustee at the Sri Vileparle Kelwani Mandal (SVKM) which manages the school, said, "After the academic year has begun, only a few parents have approached for admissions. We cannot start std I just for two/three students." Talking about allegations over the shutting of the school, Lall elaborated, "There is no such plan as the trust has been active and runs several aided, unaided educational institutions. In this case a structural audit was held recently. The building was declared unsafe to occupy. We cannot put the lives of students under threat after knowing this."