Parents at impasse with Birla Public School management, urge Ministry to intervene

Doha, Qatar: Birla Public School which recently announced its decision to introduce shift timings in its campus is facing strong opposition from paren...

Doha, Qatar: Birla Public School which recently announced its decision to introduce shift timings in its campus is facing strong opposition from parents who are filing complaints with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the Indian Embassy to revert or to arrive at an alternative option. 

The school changed the timings in its Abu Hamour Campus, starting September 10, 2024, as per which the kindergarten will operate from 6:30am to 10:15am while the grades V to 12 students will have classes from 10:30am to 5pm. 

This change, announced without any prior warning, has raised safety concerns, especially among working parents, many of whom wrote to The Peninsula, expressing their concerns of leaving their children at home alone while heading to work. Nusrat Ahmed (name changed on request), parent to a kindergartner and a class VI child, writes, "I will have to leave my 10-year-old at home and expect him to get ready alone while continuously worrying if he has switched off the air conditioner and locked the doors properly." She further questions the timing for such a change wondering if the school was unaware of the increasing number of students it was admitting into its campus during the admissions in the last academic year that it is now forcing parents and children to adjust. 

Similar concerns were raised by the parent of class V student M Kumar (name changed on request), who met the Birla principal Dr Anand R Nair along with a few other parents. He said the parents presented a list of 19 concerns this change would bring about. "We understand the issues that the school is facing but they need to look at the other side of the coin. With this schedule the child's time management is completely off the charts; there is very little study time, very little play time and very little family time," Kumar said, stressing that after coming back from school at 6:30pm, studies would be the last thing on their mind. 

"The revised school timings will severely impact after-school activities, including important extracurricular programmes and Islamic education. Students already enrolled in evening Quran classes with the Ministry of Awqaf may be forced to withdraw due to the new schedule, and those in higher grades will have to give up their tutorials," Nusrat added.