[Read/Watch] Mumbai: School Allegedly Denies Admission To A Ward Of A Single Parent

A class II student was denied admission in a Mumbai school for a bizarre reason. The mother of the child claims that her son was denied admission because she is a single parent.

Admission Denied To A Single Parent

27-year-old Sujata Mohite, posted a video on social media alleging that St Lawrence School of the Ryan Group in Vashi, Mumbai denied her son admission because she is a single parent.

@narendramodi @DrRPNishank @Dev_Fadnavis @TawdeVinod This video is posted by a single mother sujata mohite on Tiktok in which she went for admission for her son in St.Lawrence HighSchool,Vashi.The lady official of the school denied admission just because she is a single parent. pic.twitter.com/BGgPV3mpBf

— KUNAL PATIL (@KUNALPA25129276) June 13, 2019

In the video principal, Ms Saira Kennedy can be heard saying that it is ‘difficult to handle single parents’ and it was because of this that the admission was being denied to Mohite’s son.

Mohite, a manager in a private firm, got divorced from her then-husband, four years ago. “My son was studying in an ICSE school and since I am a working parent, I could not find time to take his lessons. Hence I planned to shift him to the state board,” Mohite told The Logical Indian.

In the video, Mohite can be heard saying that she can afford to pay the fee, however, Kennedy said that she did not wish to argue on the matter.

Mohite tells that on enquiring over the phone, she was told that there was a vacancy in class II. However, when she went to the school and the authorities learnt that she was a single parent, she was upfront denied admission for her son and was told that the admissions were full.

She then called the school again, from another number and she was told that there was a vacancy.

Mohite decided to visit the school again and record the conversation this time around where the principal can be heard saying that they do not give admission to ward of single parents.

“It is very discriminatory. I also told the principal that there was no government rule that denies admission to a child for having a single parent. On saying that, the principal asked me to seek admission in a government school,” says Mohite.

Mohite’s son has now secured admission in another school, but she plans to pursue the case further so that no other person has to face the same situation. “I was approached by Navi Mumbai Education Department, who said that they would help me get admission in the school, but by then I had already gotten my son admitted to another school, which in fact, is part of Ryan groups, under which St Lawrence also comes.”

An official statement by Ryan group read: “As an educational institution, we do not discriminate in admitting students under any criteria nor do we have any such policy for parents. In the given case, as the video has just come to our attention, we are investigating the issue and will take appropriate action.”

Update:

After much uproar, the principal in question Ms Saira Kennedy issued an apology saying that it was a mistake on her part to say the ‘single parent part’. She further that she is ready to grant admission to the ward after completing formalities.

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