Why detain UKG child, city questions school

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A school near Huskur Gate in Anekal taluk has received heavy criticism after the matter of it failing a UKG student came to light.

Former Primary Education Minister Suresh Kumar took to Twitter and called out the incident while the child’s father also posted about the issue on social media. The BJP leader said that he informed the Education department regarding the same as soon as it was brought to his attention, and questioned the school authorities on what they intended to do further with the child.

The child Nandini’s father Manoj Badal has put out a social media post claiming that the school authorities refused to answer any of his queries. After the issue gained much traction, the Black Education Officer (BEO) Jayalakshmi J M issued a notice to the St Joseph Chaminade Academy on February 8, informing them that according to policies, children must not be failed till Class 9.

The notice also warned the school of cancelling their registration if they were found to be at fault. On Thursday, Saju Chittadiyil, Principal of St Joseph Chaminade Academy, replied to the BEO saying that no student had failed in their institution and the issue was related to a unit test that was conducted during December, before the announcement of winter vacations.

He has said that the issue has propped up due to a software error and the child had secured a C grade. The principal has claimed that the child of the father was informed about the same through email but he had replied that they were out of station.

“We use an application to send homework and communicate on a daily basis with the parents. In that application, a default ‘fail’ is mentioned if a student scores less than 35 percent. This is where the issue began."