Principal cancels admission of LKG kid with ponytail

<paavanmv@gmail.com>BENGALURU: A city-based private school has cancelled the admission of a LKG student for having a ponytail. The boy’s father Manjunath BC was shocked when he went to pick up his son – Vishnu BM from St Vincent Pallotti School on Banaswadi Main Road in Babusahib Palya on June 6.<br /><br />The school principal Fr Paul D’Souza told Manjunath that children sporting a ponytail is against the school rules and that he must cut the boy;s hair if he wants him to continue in the school.<br /><br />Shocked over the behavior of the principal, Manjunath, who runs a provision store in Babusahib Palya, explained that his son is 3.5 years old and his family has been following a ritual of cutting the ponytail as an offering to their god Malleshwara once the boy-turns five.<br /><br />“I requested the principal to allow us to keep it. And that we will cut his hair after 1.5 years. But the principal was adamant. He told me he will not allow Vishnu or his parents to enter the premises,,” alleged Manjunath.<br /><br />Manjunath’s family offers the ponytail of male children to their family-god Malleshwara at a temple in Bagepalli in Chikballapur.<br /><br />Manjunath along with his son went to school on June 7 and requested principal several times to allow his son to attend the classes, but the principal refused. “He paid back the fees of Rs 43,000 and sent us out of the school. I literally fell at the principal’s feet pleading with him to admit my son, but he didn’t’ agree” said Manjunath.<br /><br />Since June 7, Manjunath approached more than a dozen of schools for his son’s admission, but he couldn’t get the seat as the admission season is over. Manjunath and his wife Roopa said “Now we have to wait for another one year for our son’s admission to LKG in some other school.”<br /><br />Denying the allegations of Manjunath, Fr Paul D’Souza said “I educated him not to follow such superstitious beliefs. Following such practices is against our school rules, we can’t have different rules for different kids” He further said “I didn’t pay back the fees, he asked the fees to get admission in some other school, so I gave him the fees.”<br /><br />“We will verify this issue and the department will decide its course of action in couple of days. We are waiting for the complaint by the parents," said K Anand, Primary education director of Department of Public Instruction.<br /></paavanmv@gmail.com>