Students deboarded from Ashok Leyland’s school bus for non-payment of fees, allege Parents Association

Twenty students of The Ashok Leyland School in Hosur were allegedly forcibly deboarded from the school bus for non-payment of term fees on Tuesday. .

“My son’s bag was removed by the woman help in the bus,” says Sridhar, vice-president of the Ashok Leyland Parents Association, and district treasurer, CITU.

The term fees was withheld by 20 office-bearers of the Association as a token protest pressing for the constitution of the School Management Committee (SMC) and the Parent Teacher Association. While the school claims these forums are already functional, theAssociation is questioning the whereabouts of their functioning.

In an RTI filed by Mr. Sridhar in 2024, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had underlined that humiliation of students for non-payment of fees was an offence under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act and under a host of other child protective legislations including Section 17 of the Right to Education Act, 2009, that forbids physical punishment or mental harassment of children.

The Hindu perused the school website, but the mandatory disclosure section under the CBSE drew a blank on any of the links showing details of the SMC; Parent Teacher Association and School Fee Structure.

The Ashok Leyland Parents Association is independent, constituted and registered to compensate for alleged absence of a forum to voice their complaints and grievances. “We do not know if there is any forum to raise complaints on the fee structure, which is being hiked by 30% until last year. Last year, we fought and got it lowered to 10%,” says R. Arul, president of the Association.

The Hindu contacted Principal Poorna Durachi, who denied there was any deboarding of students. When pointed out the message parents received from a teacher asking them to arrange for their own transport for non-payment of fees, Ms. Durachi said she was yet to inquire. Asked about the SMC, she said, “this is corporate-run school with CBSE accreditation. How can we even function without an SMC? The PTA was formed only last year as it was the State government guideline not required earlier.” She insisted that the PTA met twice last year, which the Ashok Leyland Parents Association is clueless about. When contacted, District Education Officer, Private Schools, Gopalappa said he was unaware of the complaint and would inquire.