Security up but parents shaky as Ryan opens for classes tomorrow

GURUGRAM: The Bhondsi campus of Ryan International School will reopen on Monday watched by 45 CCTV cameras, nearly three times more than the 16 it had when it closed down on September 8 after the murder of Class 2 student Pradhyumn Thakur in the washroom.

Now under operational control of the Haryana government , the campus had opened for classes last Monday (September 18) but closed again for a week to upgrade security as parents said they were jittery about sending children back there.

On Saturday, Gurgaon's deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh met parents for a pre-opening session, which followed a parent-teacher meeting on the school campus. Singh, who has been given charge of the school for three months, said, "In the last four days, the security apparatus of the school has been strengthened. There were lots of concerns that were raised by the parents that will be addressed by Monday and few of them in the next few days," said Singh.

Parents still looked concerned while leaving campus, though some said Singh's proactive approach made them feel better.

Pramod Gupta, a parent, said he and many others were still not sure if they should send their children to the school from Monday. "There was nobody from the school management in the meeting except the newly appointed principal (Sabu Atthikal), which to me was disappointing." Gupta said. "The deputy commissioner said he will be responsible for running the school for the next three months but there is no clarity on what will happen after that. Security remains a huge concern, and even today, when we went for the meeting, no one asked us for our identity. I am not sure if I will send my kid on Monday."

Sapna Bhatia found more positives to take away from the meeting. "I will be sending my children on Monday. The authorities have listed out safety measures that they have already taken and the ones they will in the days to come. The deputy commissioner has also given us his email ID so that we can interact with him if we need to," said Bhatia.

Harvinder Kaur voiced the general dilemma among parents: "Many parents like me no longer want to send our kids to this school and are demanding transfer certificates. The deputy commissioner also said TCs will be provided but we know it will be difficult to get admission in some other school mid-term. We want Vinay Pratap Singh to help us with getting admission in some other school," she said.

Among the students who attended the meet was Pradhuymn's classmate in 2A, Deepanshu, who said he would come back to the school on Monday. "I will miss him (Pradhyumn)," Deepanshu said.