Parents protest St Lawrence School fines

Sudipto.DasKolkata: A standoff between a section of parents and St Lawrence School authorities was resolved after police stepped in on Wednesday. Parents had accused the school of withholding students’ report cards until they paid for alleged damages.A section of parents of St Lawrence High School protested for over an hour against what they called unnecessary charges imposed on Class X students in the name of “compensation for property damage.” Many parents whose sons appeared for the ICSE examination received a message on Tuesday to collect the results on Wednesday between 8.30 am and 9.30 am.“When we arrived at the school, parents were asked to stay outside while our children were allegedly asked to pay Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 as penalty for property damage or else the marksheet would not be handed over,” alleged parent Malkeet Singh.Bidisha Saha, another parent, said, “There are 42 students on the Class X list in Section A who were told to pay between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 as a penalty. They prepared the same list for other sections too. Many paid the fine without raising any queries, but many of us wanted clarification. No one was there to give a proper answer, so we called the police.”Nianjal Mukherjee, another parent, said, “We demanded video footage, but the school authorities claimed the incident happened at least two months ago and were unable to provide any proof.” Another parent present questioned how a reputed school could withhold board results for this reason without proper evidence.Rajni Kaur, whose son’s result was withheld, said, “My son scored 78%, but the school is still tight-lipped about his admission, while his classmates who scored around 50% have already been admitted. This is ridiculous.”After police from Ballygunge Police Station arrived, the agitating parents finally received their sons’ results without paying any penalty. TOI tried to get a reaction from the school authorities, but the school principal, Fr M Benny Thomas, could not be reached.