CHENNAI: A face-off between a city school and parents took an ugly turn on Wednesday when the institution remained closed after the Muharram holiday. While the management said this was because teachers were boycotting classes, parents said the latter had tried to coerce them to pay a fee higher than that proposed by the government-appointed fee determination committee.
The management of Alagappa Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Purasawalkam informed parents on Monday afternoon that it would be closed on Wednesday. An SMS communication to parents said, "As a result of the ill-treatment of teachers by a group of parents obstructing the entrance at the school, teachers are abstaining from conducting classes. They have expressed dissatisfaction with regard to their personal safety. The management is actively working to resolve these issues. Meanwhile, the school will not function for all students on Wednesday." Teachers complained that parents had abused them.
Parents said teachers refused to go inside the classes on Monday, and even after they did, they refused to take classes and instead went about their own work. When parents complained about this to the director of matriculation schools, the school management was asked to behave.
Later that day, parents were informed about the closure. Some parents turned up at the school on Wednesday morning. Finding the gate closed, around 150 parents and 30 students went to the directorate of matriculation schools and lodged a complaint.
Head of the student-parents welfare association of the school G Ramalingam said, "The management wants to divert the focus from the fee issue and is making a new allegation against parents."
The chairman of the fee committee had recommended that the director of matriculation schools issue a show-cause notice to the school asking why it should not be disaffiliated. He said the school had continued to ignore the directive of the committee to abide by the fee structure.
As a result of this, students who began the academic term late have lost two days. While Thursday has been declared a holiday for Karthigai Deepam, parents hoped the school would reopen on Friday.
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