Parents allege ‘culture of bullying’ at private school

Jaipur: Several parents gathered at Shaheed Smarak Saturday to protest and demand action against Neerja Modi School, where 9-year-old Amaira Kumar fell to her death from the fourth floor on Nov 1. They alleged that incidents of bullying at the school were "not isolated, but rampant"."Everyone knows there is a culture of bullying at Neerja Modi School," said Saurabh Singh, whose daughter allegedly faced persistent bullying by a group of students at the school. "I complained repeatedly that my child was facing problems, yet the teacher continued to make her sit with the very children who were bullying her," he added.Another parent, who did not wish to be named, alleged that the school routinely silenced concerns raised by families, and that some children from affluent backgrounds were rarely reprimanded for their actions. "When Amaira died on Nov 1, my heart sank. My child, too, was facing constant problems there, so I immediately shifted him to another school," he told TOI.Echoing similar sentiments, another parent said her son was in Class III when he was beaten up inside a washroom, but the school "did nothing despite repeated complaints".Also present at the event, Amaira's parents questioned why no action had been taken yet against class teacher Punita Sharma and Principal Indu Dubey, despite a CBSE report pointing to lapses. "The whole episode was captured on classroom CCTV," her father Vijay Kumar said. "Amaira kept asking her teacher for help and was ignored. If the teacher had shown even a little empathy, her death could have been prevented," he said.He alleged that the school did not have an anti-bullying committee, which is mandatory under a CBSE policy that also demands affiliated schools to enforce a grievance-redressal mechanism and provide access to counselling. "Almost a month has passed, yet no action has been taken. If the CBSE itself admits to negligence, why has the state govt not acted? The police probe, too, appears slow," he said.Parents and teachers who joined the Saturday event organised by Sanyukt Abhibhavak Sangh insisted Amaira's death was "not a blind case", alleging that the school and its staff were clearly at fault. They also accused the school management of attempting to divert blame towards the family instead of acknowledging internal lapses.

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