A day after turning away parents who had arrived a few minutes late with their children for admissions, a spokesperson from the Dadar school explained that they wanted to send a strong message to parents about discipline
Hours after it was reported in mid-day that authorities of Our Lady of Salvation School in Dadar (West) did not allow some students to complete their admissions because they had arrived late, a spokesperson for the school gave the establishment’s version of events, and putting speculation to rest, said that no admissions had been cancelled (‘Dadar school slams door on parents who reach 5 minutes late’, May 30).
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He added that the main aim behind the penalty was to make sure that the parents did not take the school authorities and their children’s admission into the institution for granted.
mid-day’s report on the episode
Clear instructions
“Instructions were clearly given to parents that they should be present on the school premises by 11 am along with the child whose name had appeared in the final list of candidates. Some of these parents got to the school 15 minutes after 11 am, by which time the admission had already started, which we did not want to disturb. So, we asked them to wait,” said the spokesperson.
He added that at no point were parents told that their ward’s admission had been cancelled. The school had categorically asked parents to attend the admission session with the school administration along with their child, and also provide family photographs to the management.
“We have previously had cases where proxy parents have come with children, and that has caused confusion. Despite our clear instructions, many parents didn’t even bring their children along, and so we asked them to wait,” said the spokesperson.
On Friday, the parents returned to the school, only to be told by the principal that they were to return on Tuesday morning at 8 am. While the school spokesperson stated that no admission would be cancelled, he refused to mention when exactly the admission of these students will be accepted. Parents are now waiting for Tuesday for further clarity on the matter.
“We simply wanted to make our stand clear and tell parents that discipline is taken seriously by the school,” added the spokesperson. “It’s not a punishment for the children. We know that most come from modest backgrounds, and we have already decided that their children deserve the seats. Our aim is to ensure that parents don’t take us for granted,” added the spokesperson.
The Incident
On Thursday, parents of around 10 children who had been deemed eligible for admission to Std V in Our Lady of Salvation High School (West) reached the premises 5-10 minutes past 11, the time that had been given to them. Following this, the school administration asked them to be seated in the lobby. The latecomers were then made to wait till evening, after which the school authorities turned them away, asking them to come back on Friday.