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PMO official pulls up school for denying admission to 5-yr-old type 1 diabetic

Under Right To Education (RTE), elementary education is the basic right of all children aged between 6 to 14 years of age, including disabled children

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Mansukhbhai Kothari National School in Pune
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The Principal of Pune-based Mansukhbhai Kothari National School (MKNS) Sandeep Khanna has refused to accept that the under secretary (Public), PMO, Ambuj Sharma called him to inquire about why a type 1 diabetic (or juvenile diabetic) child was denied admission to the school. According to reports, 5-year-old Alia (name changed), who suffers from an auto-immune condition called type 1 diabetes (T1D), was allegedly denied admission because of her condition.

Following this, the matter reached a Delhi-based support group for T1Ds in India — Diabetes India Youth in Action (DIYA) — who further wrote to the government of India’s public grievances redressal portal. In a day, the matter was taken up by the cell, and a conference call was arranged with Khanna and Nehu Gumber, member of DIYA, who had filed the complaint on behalf of Alia’s parents. While Gumber says the secretary has assured of appropriate action against the school, Khanna maintains that no such conversation ensued.

“The child was not denied admission. She was already studying in another school and her parents had only come to inquire. The parents demanded special requirements for the child; she has certain equipment attached to her body through which her blood sugar levels need to be monitored regularly and insulin dose needs to be given. But, I said, we are a normal school and have only a nurse to look after the child so I said we’d get back to them (the parents). I never promised admission,” said principal Khanna. Alia’s mother said the school refused to provide a letter that states reason behind not granting admission to her daughter and neither did it provide with Alia’s entrance test results.

On the other hand, Gumber said that during the conference call, Khanna initially cited lack of facilities as the reason behind denying admission but by the end of the call, he stated that it was because Alia failed to pass the entrance that this decision was taken by the school. “He has been changing his versions.” The secretary thereby asked for results of all children who have appeared for entrance tests at MKNS this year and, as Gumber told DNA, has assured that if it is found that Alia was refused admission because of her health condition, the school’s affiliation with CBSE would be revoked. Gumber was also assured that a recognition letter will be issued for the five-year-old to ensure she received admission in a better school. It is yet to be seen by when the officials will take the actions assured in this regard.

However, Alia’s parents are afraid that it might be too late now as the admission period has come to an end. “I was concerned about what to tell my child. She (Alia) knows very well that she has cleared her exam...such rejections affect a child’s psychology more than the condition (TD in this case) itself.” But Alia’s reply to why she thinks she couldn’t attend class at MKNS proves her optimism and intelligence. “I know why I couldn’t get to Kothari. The school is not good, that’s why.”

VIOLATION OF RIGHTS

  • Under Right To Education (RTE), elementary education is the basic right of all children aged between 6 to 14 years of age, including disabled children.
     
  • Schools or educational institutions found to be violating this norm can lose government certification/recognition.

SIMILAR CASES

Rejection in school admissions and hiring at workplace due to type 1 diabetes has been a rampant trend in India but has gone unheard of in most cases. Nehu Gumber is herself a type 1 diabetic and was allegedly refused the position of IT Officer at South Indian Bank despite giving her the offer letter initially. “The offer letter specifically said that persons with disability, including type 1 diabetes, are not allowed,” said Gumber. (with image of the letter)

Shradha, 33, faced a similar rejection. “I was rejected by Larson & Toubro, Mumbai only 3 days before I was to join. This was in January 2014. They said that had I not mentioned by myself that I was a T1D, they’d never have known because my blood reports required for joining, were normal.” L&T had said, Shradha adds, that it’s company policy not to take medically unfit candidates. Shradha had applied for the position of IT (consulting).

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