Mumbai: For almost two years, Mumbai resident Isha Kanojiya, an ex-student of Dr Datta Samant Madhyamik Vidyalaya in Bhandup, has been seeking her SSC result and leaving certificate, which the school has withheld for the academic year 2020-21 due to outstanding fees of around 35,000 Rs.
19-year-old Isha, who discontinued her schooling two years ago owing to her family's financial hardship, now faces a gloomy future after her name was taken off the school's register for failing to pay fees for six years, another fallout of the Covid-19 crisis for the family.
"The school forced me to discontinue my studies and miss two crucial years of my academics due to the school holding back the result and leaving certificate, and all of this has caused me to go into mental stress," says Isha, who took the SSC board examinations in 2020-21 and scored 70%.
Isha's father, the sole breadwinner, is an auto rickshaw driver, who earns just about ten to fifteen thousand rupees each month to cover living expenses. Not only has the family income dropped after the pandemic struck and threw everything haywire. Today, Isha is forced to sit at home, uncertain of what lies ahead.
Despite Isha and her parents visiting the school several times with requests to release her result and leaving certificate, the school ignored Isha’s pleas for relaxation. It refused to accept payment in instalments and blocked her efforts to find alternative schooling options for herself.
Sharad Patil, the school's principal, stated, "We have explained our management pattern to the parents. We do not intend to keep her certificate and results with us. There are more of these students from low-income families at my school. If we tolerate it for just one, many cases like this will arise. Isha's family has not paid the fee for the past six years. Furthermore, they have also signed an undertaking with us to do the same."
Isha, who wants to resume her schooling, has sought support from Federation's Nitin Dalvi, and the student has complained to the Maharashtra State Child Rights Commission and the Deputy Director of Education against the Dr Datta Samant school administration.
According to activist Nitin Dalvi, “such arbitrariness of private schools causes academic loss to students. The Education Department issued a government order on 22/08/2021 ordering not to withhold the results and leaving certificates of the students due to fees and other reasons, yet private schools continue to do so. They should face criminal charges for wasting two years of students' education.”
