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‘Ineligible’
children hauled away The Borella police were summoned by the principal and old boys of D. S. Senanayake, soon after the school opened on Friday. Parents who had protested had threatened to take poison if their children were not admitted to the schools as they stated their children were deprived of the rightful place in the school and their places filled while an inquiry was pending. The Sunday Times learns that the parents in question had put their children into the class rooms to protest that their children had been denied a placement while other unqualified children had gained entrance. This issue had first come up when the 17 children had been denied admission and placed in the waiting list. Most of the children who had been rejected were sons of old boys and living within the stipulated radius. The atmosphere on Friday at D.S. Senanayake College was charged with the rejected children inside, the parents outside trying to talk to their children through the gate and armed police officers surrounding the area. Some old boys who were members of the Old Boys Association were inside the school while one old boy identified as Mohamed Akbar had tried to obstruct The Sunday Times journalists entering the school or trying to take photographs of the children being pulled out of their classes by the police. An old boy of DS, Jayantha Rajapakse who is also an all island Justice of the Peace told The Sunday Times that his youngest son Matheesha was rejected while his other two sons are in Grades 3 and 11. "I have done so much for my school and this is what I get at the end of the day. If my other two sons can come to DS why can't my youngest. The Education Ministry officer S. L. Gunawardene and DS Principal Asoka Hewage are responsible for this chaotic situation that has arisen by filling the vacancies while an inquiry is still pending" he said. G.V. Padmasiri whose son had also been rejected told The Sunday Times that for the past two weeks he had been coming to scan the waiting list but neither the school authorities nor the Education Department ever gave him a positive answer. "We live within the radius and we have necessary documents to prove that my son is eligible to be admitted to DS but some other person's son has gained admission by producing false documents," he said. DS principal Asoka Hewage told The Sunday Times that he is acting according to the guidelines while parents are causing trouble by forcibly putting their children into the classes. "The children are not within the radius. So far 10 have filed fundamental rights cases but if the vacancies are filled what can I do about it because I am acting according to the guidelines," he said. Gotami Kanishta Vidyalaya, Gampaha also experienced the same situation on Monday but there was no trouble as an Education Ministry supervisor was conducting an assembly at the school. Supervisor Provincial Councillor for Gampaha schools, Sunil Wijeratne promised the parents to settle the issue by Monday after which the parents had taken their children away. "We did not want to call in the police as the parents themselves took the children away on Mr. Wijeratne's promise. But chances are they will come back if the issue is not settled." Gotami deputy principal said. Although parents submit appeals when their children are rejected, such appeals are forwarded to the Education Ministry. Some principals say the appeal process is impractical as not a single child could be admitted unless one child is removed from the list. An Education Ministry official who did not wish to be identified, admitted that all these problems have arisen because of the circular issued recently. "According to the circular, parents should not appeal unless they can prove another child had been admitted by bogus means. If their children had been rejected they should meet the Zonal Education Director to get their children admitted to another school in close proximity," he said. |
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