No fees, no exam, Sharadashram Class 2 student told

Mumbai: A Class 2 student from Mumbai’s Sharadashram Vidyamandir International School in Dadar was not permitted to appear for a unit test on Thursday on account of unpaid fees. The child was also instructed by the teacher to sit in the staffroom while the test was on.

Shardashram, incidentally, is where Sachin Tendulkar schooled and from where he began his cricketing journey with classmate Vinod Kambli.

Mrigendra Rane, the child’s father who runs a small store in Dadar, enrolled her in the recently added International wing of Sharadashram, where the primary school fees are ₹77,000 per year, to give her an “excellent” education. He said the exam experience had traumatised her. “She feels awful because while her peers were sitting in one room writing their exams, she was sitting in another,” he said. “She can’t even comprehend why this happened to her. She was unable to sleep last night.”

Rane acknowledged that he had not paid his daughter’s fees on time but maintained that the school should hold him responsible instead of punishing his child. “I was not disturbed about her missing her exam but was concerned about how the school administration had treated her. That is why I filed a complaint,” he said.

After the incident, Rane spoke to Nitin Dalvi, a representative of the Maharashtra State Student-Parent Teacher Federation. Dalvi advised him to submit his complaint to the divisional deputy director of education, the state Child Rights Commission and the education inspector. Taking note of Rane’s complaint, the officer in the education department summoned the principal, instructed her to schedule the student’s exam for Friday and submit a report.

Gajendra Shetty, secretary, Shardashram Vidyamandir said the school had exempted 11 economically disadvantaged students from paying the eight-month tuition fees in the last academic year. “Even in this case, though the fees are supposed to be paid in advance every quarter, we permitted Rane to pay them on a monthly basis because of his financial position. However, he chose not to do so though we sent him numerous reminders.”

Shetty added that though Rane had paid only ₹10,000 for the academic year 2022-23, his daughter was never stopped from participating in any school events. “We will take her exam together with the other students on Friday,” he said.

Dalvi wants the school to be held responsible. “Such occurrences are frequent in private institutions, and when a parent complains, the incident is brought to light,” he said. “We encourage parents to voice these grievances.”