Thiruvananthapuram: About 250 students were allegedly locked up in a school in Kerala's Kozhiokode district for non payment of fees. The police have registered a case and the investigation is on progress. The school management has maintained that the children were locked in by the parents who were in school.
The parents allege that the children were locked in an asbestos sheeted room without ventilation facilities for more than an hour. They say that on Monday some children were made to stand out of class for non payment of fees and the parents were in school to discuss this issue. Parents say that two of them fell unconscious and was taken to the hospital.
One of the girl students recounted the horror in following words. She said "they were not letting us go out to drink water. It was really hot inside when we asked can we go out. They were scolding us by asking us to sit inside quietly".
Another boy said "they asked us whether we have given the fees, even yesterday we were made to stand out of the class".
There were on-going issues between the management and the parents association related to transferring the school from the present building to another. The school had send out a closure notice stating that the school will be closed from the next academic year. That's when the parents decided not to pay the fees for the last term without finding a solution to their problem. The amount is about Rs 3,000 to 5,000.
Abdul Jabbar, president of the parents association, said "we had to pay the fees of only four months from January. This Friday there was a meeting between us and the school authorities, if we have a solution we are ready to pay the fees. In between why are they doing such cruelty to the children? The children were made to stand out on Monday and the class was going on, these children stood out and was holding the book in their hands and writing".
Meanwhile the management authorities say that the room's door was locked by the parents who came to the school.
S Abdu Rahiman of the school management said "they had to pay the fees by December 10. They haven't paid till now. We have been telling this to the children who have not paid the fees for many days. To avoid the problems of asking them in class, we asked the teachers to take them out of the class to another room and ask".
The Police have questioned the principal and the staff, a case ahs been registered and the investigation is on. According to police they are not fully convinced with the parent's version. The parents have met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy with their problem. They say that their demand is that the school should not be closed as it affects the future of the children, admission to new schools will be difficult
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