A parent on Wednesday accused a prominent private school in Sector 7 here of discriminating against her handicapped daughter by refusing admission to her in Class VII only on the basis of her condition. The parent also called police to the school, but was advised by them to approach the education department instead.
The school principal has admitted to having refused admission, but has said it was because of its inability to provide the right infrastructure to the child. Talking to The Times of India, the parent said the school had conducted a written test on January 24 and declared the results a day later. "In the list of the selected children, my daughter was fifth while my son was seventh. However, on February 2, when I went to the school to deposit entrance fee for my children, I was told to bring them for an interaction with the principal today. When we came today, they started giving us different reasons for not admitting the child; they were saying classes are on the third floor, so it will be difficult for her," he said. The school principal denied allegations that it discriminated against a handicapped child. "It would have been a violation if the father had informed us about his daughter's disability since day one and then we would have struck her name off. But, we had selected his daughter and her name was there on the list. It was on Tuesday that we got to know that she is disabled. We called her for a counseling session today to see what kind of help she would need from us," she said. The father has also accused the school of violating the Right to Education Act by conducting an admission test. UT education department had last month directed all schools to not conduct entrance tests for admissions up to Class VIII. When contacted, district education officer Viney R sood said, "I cannot comment unless I get the complaint. However, if the school has actually conducted a test, then they will be asked to give an explanation for violating the RTE Act and directions given by the department." The principal said the girl would need a special educator and a ramp to go up to her class, but the school did not have that facility. "It was only after talking to the principal of her present school that we got to know that the child has almost 75% disability. The principal informed us that the girl has a problem in climbing to the second floor and writing as well. Our classroom is on the third floor," she said The father, however, said his daughter only had little disability in her arm and leg and she can climb stairs on her own, without the need of a stretcher. "In the school where she is presently studying, she climbs up to the second floor to attend her class. Also, she is one of the toppers in her class," he said. Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Chandigarh-school-discriminates-against-handicapped-child/articleshow/50842494.cms?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=digest_section -- "Life is like a piano. White keys are happy moments & Black keys are sad moments. But remember both keys are played together to give sweet music." "Focus on your abilities, not your disability." Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/starhoze Skype ID: star.hoze Warm Regards, Hozefa... Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
