Patiala: Parents worried as Yadavindra Public School send notice for 'Full-Boarding' admission in class 6th

PATIALA: Parents of over 50 class V students’ of Yadavindra Public School (YPS) in Patiala are left worried after they were served a notice by the school authorities to get their children in full boarding from class sixth instead of day schooling. The school has decided to go for 'full-boarding' from class six onwards from this session.
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh is Patron of the school and his brother Capt.Malwinder Singh is the school chairman.
The parents have submitted a memorandum to YPS authorities seeking to make the ‘full-boarding’ as optional instead of compulsion maintaining that their children are unwilling to go full-boarding school.
The school authorities, however, had claimed that parents themselves had signed an affidavit during the admission in class one in the school. The authorities claimed that parents agreed then to get their children in full-boarding school from class VI. The authorities had sent a notice to parents to either withdraw their wards from the school or get them admitted under the agreement for the ‘full boarding’.
The parents, however, are anxious over the decision of the school and finding it hard to accommodate them in other schools of such repute in the city. Moreover, the parents claim that fee for full-boarding was over Rs 3 lakhs per year which was three times higher than the day-schooling fee. The new session in the schools will start from March onwards.
Seeking anonymity, the parents said, “Out of around 150 students in class V batch of 2019-20 we are around 60 parents who got their children admitted in YPS from class 1st. The full-boarding compulsion is not for the remaining students as they had got admission in the school since prep (before class 1). The decision of the school to make it full boarding was hanging over the years and at the time of admission, the school authorities verbally told that it was just a formality. Now after getting primary education up to class V, it is not easy for us to get our children out of the school. Moreover, this compulsion of the school is also violating the rules of Right to Education. The school fee of ‘full-boarding’ is three times higher than the regular day schooling. There are some parents who got admitted their two children in the same school and now one of their siblings will get to the full-boarding while the other will come back home every day after completing his day-schooling. The school cannot force us on the basis of only an affidavit as to the consent of the parents and student as well should be paid attention. We had pleaded the authorities that on humanitarian grounds they should make this full-boarding optional.”
YPS Chairman Capt. Malwinder Singh and director Sanjeev Verma could not be contacted despite repeated phone calls and messages.
Officiating Vice-Principal, Anil Bajaj said, “The parents might have received the notice that could have been sent before vacation period – December 23 to January 15. The parents during admission have signed the affidavits and thus giving consent to the ‘full-boarding’ school. I do not know about the fee difference. You may contact the Director for further comments”.
Sanjeev Verma, director YPS said, "The parents approached me after they were served the notice. In 2015 we made a policy that students after class V will be taken for full boarding and parents gave their consent. I had told them that the final decision over this matter is yet to come as our Board will decide over it. The parents just have a fear in their mind that the decision has been taken but the final call will be taken over this"