Telangana: Vignan Vidyalaya gives transfer certificates to 2 for parents' troll'

HYDERABAD: Transfer certificates (TC) were issued to two students of Vignan Vidyalaya, Nizampet, because their parents were part of a WhatsApp group that spread remarks that allegedly maligned the school.

“The parents had formed a WhatsApp group to speak about the fee hike of 30 per cent that was issued by the school. All those in the forefront of the protest against the fee hike have been targeted and their wards have been asked to leave the school. These parents were asked to write an apology letter for being part of a WhatsApp group, which is absurd,” says Arvinda Jata, a member of the Hyderabad Schools Parents’ Association.

Some parents say they were forced to ask for a transfer certificate. “I submitted the letter but clearly stated that I was doing so only because of the force of the management, and the principal signed the letter. How can being a part of a WhatsApp group affect my child’s education?” asks a bewildered Karnan Sethu.
Vignan Vidyalaya’s principal S. Vandana, says the management took this step because of “derogatory comments being spread on WhatsApp about our woman faculty. One of the parents also recorded the teacher’s voice on phone and put it on WhatsApp. This behaviour caused deep hurt to our faculty and they were threatening to resign. This decision was taken after one month of deliberation and discussion.”

School to send TC by post: Parent
Vignan Vidyalaya’s principal S. Vandana clarified that the new fee structure was passed after a parent-teacher meeting, where 100 parents out of 2,500 parents opposed the move. “So there could be no question of singling out any one parent.”

Venkataramana Reddy, a parent says, “The details furnished by the school are false. I am the representative of all the parents opposing the fee hike and therefore my child had to face the brunt of it. I was called to the school and asked to either take TC or it would be forcefully given. When I asked them for the reason, they did not answer. Within a week, the TC was sent to me by post.”

B. Srinivas, the administrator of Vignan Vidyalaya, said, “One of the students issued a TC has been availing the merit scholarship of our school for the last five years. We have always encouraged her education. But how can the parents speak against our school and management using vulgar terms? We did not want to punish the children for their parents' behaviour. They refused to issue an apology letter unless we reduced the fees.”