Mumbai: The standoff between parents and the management of Shardashram Vidyamandir (SVM) School in Dadar (West) continues, with the former objecting to the school’s plan to gradually migrate to the ICSE board. Parents are opposing the introduction of ICSE syllabus for Classes I-V in the next academic year, and the proposed change in name to S.V. International School. The school counts cricketer Sachin Tendulkar among its alumni.
Parents said they haven’t been updated on the decisions taken at a meeting of school authorities on Thursday. Subash Jadhav, an administrative officer at the school, said parents will be informed about developments in a day or two, and that decisions were yet to be taken. He said the BMC has no say in the school’s decision to change its name. “We have already received approval for the change in name from the State Education Department. We have nothing to do with the BMC.”
Parents and Yuva Sena member Sainath Durge had written to Rajendra Ahire, Deputy Director, State Education department, on April 24 raising seven issues, including the ICSE syllabus and the name change. Parents said the school doesn’t have enough classrooms, playgrounds and parking space to be an ICSE-affiliated school. They claimed school authorities hadn’t obtained a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the State Education Department for the name change, but are using S.V. International School nevertheless.
Rahul Morvekar, a parent, said, “The change of name was to be discussed at a BMC meeting on April 27, but they have already begun the process and the name has been changed. The school had proposed the name change to parents in a meeting on April 11, but there has been no discussion since.”
Last year, they said, the school’s bid to shift to the ICSE board had failed due to strong opposition from parents. They claimed the school fees would become unaffordable once it changes to the ICSE board. “The SSC board fee comes to around ₹30,000 per year, which is a big challenge for middle class people like us. To pay more would be a struggle.” Earlier, school authorities had said if all students shifted to the ICSE syllabus, fees wouldn’t be increased to more than ₹50,000 per year.
Another parent, whose daughter studies in Class IV, added, “I’m worried my daughter won’t be able to cope with a sudden syllabus change. This should have been started at the kindergarten level.” Mr. Morvekar said parents will be approaching Sena leader Aditya Thackeray at Shiv Sena Bhavan on April 28.
Mahesh Palkar, chief education officer, BMC, said, “The school management can pass a resolution to change its name. That is their purview. But they cannot shut down classes at once and shift to ICSE. It can be done only one class at a time. They have written to us. We will instruct them to not shut down classes all at once.”
