Ranchi, July 22: VIPs seem to be the biggest headache for school principals in the season of admissions.
With the demand for education at elite schools ever on the rise, the VIP fathers and mothers would stop at nothing to get their wards admitted in the premier institutes of the city.
It all starts, say the principals, with requests, which soon transform into pressure and even threats. Left with little option, the school heads are often forced to accept ?backdoor? entries.
The principals did not want to be named, not surprisingly. ?As it is we face a new tension everyday. I cannot afford to add to it at any cost. It (VIP request)has become a common affair these days. Almost everyday we get calls from the secretariat or state officials for admission. There are people who are not even bothered about the session. They call up in the middle of a session and ask for seats?, said the principal of a city school.
?There are times when we have no seats left. But even then the VIPs refuse to understand. They talk about their connections and how they can land me in trouble. Some claim that they know the top officials of the school management and I can be transferred to a suburban place or even removed. We have to ignore such calls if there are no seats at all,? said another principal.
Since the high and mighty are not likely to see reason, the principals give in more often than not. ?What can we do? We have to consider many such cases and are left with few options. But the pressure does break us at times as we have our own families and cannot afford to take risks. The job of a school principal is a very tough one,? said a principal.
According to the principals, politicians and bureaucrats create a lot of problems for them. ?They are the ones who trouble us the most. It is a known fact that the wards of the state secretaries study in the best schools of the capital. The problem arises when they start exerting pressure to admit the children of their relatives and friends,? he added.
The principals said though they have never demanded special security during admissions, the problem could soon assume alarming proportions.
?If things do not improve in the near future, we will require security during admissions. Besides, we might also have to ask for arms licence. We will be left with no way out,? he added.
