Ahmedabad: Even after being taken over by the govt, Seventh Day Adventist school continues to remain at the centre of controversy. It has now come to light that, despite strict observations made by the Gujarat high court, the school administration is allegedly avoiding providing crucial information to the authorities. At the beginning of the new year, the Ahmedabad City district education officer issued a notice to the school management seeking details of bank accounts, scholarship disbursement, and fee collection. However, the school reportedly failed to submit the required information.According to sources, the school was found to be collecting fees in cash from parents, which is against established norms and in violation of the rules laid down by the fee regulatory committee. Schools are not permitted to accept fees in cash, yet the practice allegedly continued even after the committee’s directives. Additionally, complaints were received that minority scholarship forms were not being filled in and that irregularities occurred in scholarship disbursement.After a Class 10 student was fatally stabbed by a Class 8 student at the Khokhra school last Aug, the govt initiated an investigation. As a result, around 35 days ago, the school was taken over by the govt, and the Ahmedabad City DEO was appointed as the administrator. During scrutiny, it was observed that fee collection was not being carried out as per prescribed norms.To probe these issues, the DEO demanded comprehensive details, including the bank accounts into which school fees are deposited, evidence of the fee collection process, cheque books of all accounts in the school’s name, and complete records of minority scholarships paid over the past five years. Despite the issuance of a formal notice, the school has allegedly shown reluctance in sharing these details.As the school management still did not furnish the required information, authorities are now considering initiating strict action against the institution in the coming days.
