For Abhishekh James Mati, the right to an education — something that Section 3(1) of Right to Education Act, 2009 provides for — seems like a distant dream.
Abhishek is 15 and a resident of Bhandup. He lost his mother when he was ten, and in the fifth standard in Bhandup’s Bright High School and Junior College, considered one of the city’s better schools. He went to live with his father’s sister in the family’s village home, near Ludhiana, Punjab, since his father could not look after him alone. At that time, Bright School denied him a Leaving Certificate. Luckily for him, St. Francis Convent School, Ludhiana, understood his financial woes and let him study for free.
Then, when he was 12, his father died too. After he passed his sixth standard exams in St. Francis, he decided to come back to Mumbai and live with his grandmother, because, he says, “I thought studying in a metropolitan school would be better. However, the Bright High School authorities denied me admission to the seventh class even after producing my result certificate. I was made to repeat Class 6 again.”
That was not the end of his troubles. Due to financial problems, his family was unable to pay his school fees, a sum of Rs. 28,000. So the school didn’t let him take his Class 7 exams. Fearing he would lose a year, his grandmother decided to shift him to a municipal school. But now Bright School is refusing to issue a Leaving Certificate (L.C.) “I had written stating I would pay the fees later on, but they ignored my letter and didn’t let me write my exams. I went to the Nagar Sevak for help and he has promised to help me obtain my L.C.”
Abhishek plans to skip his eighth and ninth standards and do his tenth standard exams privately, as he has already lost two years. He now works at a workshop to meet his family’s needs.
Mr. James Devdassan, President of Bright High School, told The Hindu , “You need to contact the Principal. I’m not the person to talk to.” The school authorities remained unavailable for comment.
The writer in an intern with The Hindu
I had written stating I would pay the fees later, but they ignored my letterAbhishek MatiStudent, Bright School
