Mira Road school ousts two kids over fee issue

The long-standing battle between Mira Road's Cosmopolitan High School and Nishad Sheikh, a parent who had spoken out against hike in school fees, has culminated in her two children being issued leaving certificates, in the middle of the academic year.

DNA had earlier written about Sheikh, mother of Ayesha and Asif in class 4 and 2 respectively, alleging that her children were being 'targetted' by school authorities after she spoke out against the hike. At the time, the school had barred the kids from appearing for exams, and later made a special provision for them after the education officer of the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation stepped in.

On October 13, the school issued Leaving Certificates (LCs) to both the siblings, citing 'parent's wish' as the reason. Sheikh, however, has refuted the claim and further alleged that the officials forced her to take the LCs. "I had gone to school to meet the officials after my children were allowed to write the exams. They told me to take the leaving certificates and look for another school. They even threatened that their teachers would leave the school if I did not remove my children from there. They did not ask us before taking such a drastic step," said Sheikh. She now plans to challenge the school's decision in the State Child Rights Commission.

Meanwhile, Reshma Sayyed, a representative of the school management insists that the school issued the LCs only after the parent made a verbal request for it. "The school has faced a lot of harassment due to false allegations made by the parent. Despite this, we allowed them to appear for exams. When the parent agreed to shift the children to another school, we issued the LCs" she said.