It was unlike any other birthday he had. The class 12 student who was expelled from St. Thomas Central School for giving a girl student a celebratory hug turned 17 on Wednesday.
Amid the agony of sitting at home for months came the news that the school had decided to reconsider the matter. In the letter, the school Principal has asked the boy and his family to reach the school on January 3 to discuss the matter.
However, the girl’s future hangs in the balance. The school says she had not submitted her transfer certificate and paid the fee to complete the registration for class 11 in time and thus was not their student.
The girl says it is an attempt of the school to wash their hands of its responsibility to her. “They kept me away from classes and did not complete the registration, and are now trying to make it seem that I am not their student.”
She says if she were not their student she should not have been made to appear before the school inquiry commission. The school authorities tried to force her to write a complaint against the boy if she wanted to be reinstated. “They wanted me to give in writing that he forcibly hugged me. If the school was ready to take me back then, why can’t they do so now?”
Girl’s allegation
The school, she says, told her father to pull her out and seek admission in another school, but put a spanner in the works there. “They did not let me complete my education in their institution or in any other.”
The prospect of losing a year is worrisome, she says, adding that she would take action if the school does not take her back.
At the boy’s home, the letter has given rise to mixed feelings. The family is hurt by the violation of the boy’s privacy and the dent to his reputation caused by the school authorities by circulating Instagram pictures of the two students.
The boy, they say, suffered from depression and mood swings after he was first suspended and later expelled.
Moreover, the family is anxious about the girl student who, they say, has been similarly affected, and has stopped studying.
CBSE stance
Meanwhile, the CBSE regional office at Pattom says they have received a letter from the school about the meeting with the boy’s family, and if the school were to send any proposal on allowing the boy to appear for the Board examinations, these will be sent to the CBSE headquarters for approval.
Once sanction is received, the boy will be able to sit for the examinations. Dinesh Ram, Assistant Secretary in-charge of CBSE Regional Officer, says the regional office will strongly recommend the case to the New Delhi office.
