Mahadevi Birla World Academy has suspended admission to kindergarten after protests by parents against the school's decision to admit only girls.

The girls-only school started admitting boys from the 2013-14 academic session. Three years down the line, the authorities have now decided to go back to being an all-girl institution, angering parents of the 270 boys on the rolls at present.

Parents of some students assembled in front of the school since 8am on Friday and shouted slogans, demanding that the school should continue as a co-educational institution.

Around 2pm, the school issued a notice addressed to parents, which was put up outside the school and later uploaded on the website. "Notice is hereby given to all concerned, that we are discontinuing the admission procedure online for the session 2016-2017 till further notice. Registrations done so far will be withheld," the notice read. "New dates for online availability of admission forms will be announced shortly."

The school authorities refused to comment on whether the decision would be reconsidered.

The school had earlier put up a notice stating: "The managing committee of the school has decided to admit only girls from the academic session 2016-2017 onwards, and henceforth boys shall not be considered."

The notice had clarified that boys studying at Mahadevi Birla - between kindergarten and Class II - would be allowed to continue till Class XII.

The online admission process, which has also been stalled, had started on August 31.

The dispersal of children on Friday was delayed because of the protest by parents. After students left the campus, the protesters held up the teachers.

"Parents were agitating outside the school when the school was on in full swing and also threatening to stop the buses. We did not want the children to be affected or become victims of parents' agitation and so the management decided to stop admission for now," principal Anjana Saha said.

The parents felt that had they not protested, the school would not have suspended the admission process.

"If we had not protested, the school would have continued with the admission and we cannot accept the school becoming a girls' only institute," said a father whose son is in Class II.