The 15-year-old from Andhra who has completed Class 10 from the same school is being denied the application form for Class 11.
Fifteen-year-old Yerikala Supriya from Gooty town in Anantapur district would like to go to college to study Political Science. But she is allegedly being denied the application form for seeking admission to Class 11 in Kendriya Vidyalaya, ASC Centre in Bengaluru, where she recently completed Class 10. Supriya, who belongs to the Yerukula community, a Scheduled Tribe, had studied from Class 1 to 9 in Kendriya Vidyalaya Gooty. Her father Sudhakar felt that since Supriya is a sharp and articulate child, she must be able to access better educational opportunities and exposure than those available in her hometown. “She can speak English and Hindi quite well. She is a very bright child. She is good at sports too. In Class 7, she was in a team that came third in the KV Regional Sports Meet. I thought she could have a great future if she could go to a school in a city. Bengaluru was close by, so I came multiple times and tried for admission into KV ASC Centre since they have hostel facility. I tried from the time she was in Class 8. Finally, she was given admission in Class 10,” Sudhakar said. Sudhakar, who rears cattle for a living, occasionally also does painting jobs for additional income. On average, he earns Rs 300 a day. “I have a BPL (Below Poverty Line) card. Based on that, the school said that we would not have to pay tuition fees, but a hostel fee of around Rs 6,000 per month would be charged,” said Sudhakar. Supriya joined the school on June 23 last year. Her father paid the monthly hostel fees for the first few months, but since September 2018, he was unable to bear the expense any longer. Since then, Supriya and her father have been issued notices from the school management to pay the fees, but Sudhakar was unable to raise the required amount. The hostel eventually became an unpleasant and hostile environment for the young girl. Although Supriya was allowed to stay in the hostel and complete her academic year, when her father went to take her home after her Class 10 board exams ended, the hostel authorities were allegedly hostile to them, asking them to vacate the hostel completely, saying that’s the norm for Class 10 students, who will have to seek admission again for Class 11. When asked why only Supriya was being told to do so, while the other students of her class were allowed to leave some of their belongings in the hostel, the hostel authorities allegedly made harsh comments, saying it was doubtful that Supriya would pass Class 10, so they should leave without leaving a single object behind. With the school announcing that Class 11 admission forms would be available for KV students from May 15 to May 30, Supriya and her father arrived at the school. Although Supriya had passed Class 10 with 60.6%, the school authorities allegedly told her and her father that they had been instructed by the school principal to not issue the admission form for Supriya. On questioning further, they were told to talk to the principal directly, who is currently on leave and will return to work only after June 6. With the school’s notice saying that May 30 would be the last date for issuing admission forms for KV students, Supriya and her father are anxious about her future. Her father says that he cannot afford the fees for a private college, and KV Gooty does not offer the humanities stream for Class 11. Authorities from the KV Regional Office in Bengaluru, as well as KV ASC Centre, have claimed that the school principal is the final authority to be contacted over the issue. The principal, who is on leave, has not responded to calls and messages. Although Kendriya Vidyalaya schools primarily cater to “educational needs of children of transferable Central Government employees … by providing a common programme of education”, their objectives also include providing education for “floating populations and others including those living in remote and undeveloped locations of the country.” The schools provide tuition fee exemption for SC/ST students, and also have 15% seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and 7.5% reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Because of a failure to pay an outstanding hostel fee amount of Rs 38,000, Supriya is in danger of losing out on an aspirational opportunity and her family’s hopes of social and economic mobility for their child.
from Karnataka http://bit.ly/2Z2ajGX
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