Cancellation of Jaipur school's affiliation over girl's suicide: Father demands abetment of suicide case against principal, teachers

Jaipur, Dec 31 (PTI) The father of the nine-year-old girl, who allegedly committed suicide in her school here, said on Wednesday that was he was largely satisfied with the CBSE's decision to cancel the affiliation of Neerja Modi School and demanded a case of abetment of suicide against the principal and some teachers.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday cancelled the school's affiliation citing "gross violation" of student safety norms after the girl, studying in class 4, died allegedly by jumping from the fourth floor of the school on November 1.

Vijay Meena demanded that a case of abetment of suicide be lodged against the class teacher, subject teacher and the school principal alleging they provoked his daughter, did not make her feel safe and instead flared up the situation.

"It is a huge systemic failure of the school if a child visits the teachers five times in just half an hour and the teachers continue to ignore her," Meena said.

Expressed dissatisfaction over the state government not taking any action against the school, he said, "On the lines of substantial action by CBSE, the state government and education minister Madan Dilawar should take stern action in the matter and affiliation of the school for class 1-8 should be terminated completely." He added that in "such a big tragedy as this, the state government itself should have initiated action against the school, instead we (parents) were running from pillar to post for justice".

He also demanded strict laws on children's safety in schools and periodic review of compliance of norms and safety measures and to put audit report of school in public domain.

On CBSE's action, meena said, "We were hopeful that CBSE would take action, and we are largely satisfied. They have also suggested shifting the students of classes 9 and 11 to other schools. CBSE has taken this decision after much consideration," Vijay Meena said.

"The matter of classes 1 to 8 has been left to the state government because it does not fall under CBSE's purview. I urge the chief minister and the education minister to also take concrete action against the school and arrange for the children up to class 8 to be shifted to nearby schools," he added.

Meena alleged that the incident happened due to bullying and no action was taken despite several complaints.

"We saw the school's CCTV footage. We had complained to the class teacher, but no action was taken," he said.

Leader of opposition Tikaram Jully said the incident was unfortunate.

"Now CBSE has taken a decision. The state government was trying to suppress the matter from the beginning. There was an incident of a school building collapsing in the state, in which children died," he said.

"I want to ask the government and the education minister about their plan to prevent such incidents. The government should explain its plan and vision. Today, children are under stress, and it is a serious matter how the girl reached that stage. The government needs to work on this issue," he said.

Abhishek Jain, spokesperson of Parents Association, said that after much struggle, CBSE has taken action, but the recognition for classes up to 8 is given by the state government, so the state government should also take action.

"CBSE has fulfilled its responsibility. Now the state government should also do what is within its jurisdiction," he said.

In its order, the CBSE said the school is liable for "severest" of penalty and that the students cannot be allowed to continue studying in such an unsafe environment.

An inquiry panel formed by the CBSE to probe into the death had pointed out several lapses on the part of the school, noting the relentless bullying faced by the girl, and mentioned that her parents had first raised the issue with teachers in July 2024.

The panel observed that the class teacher failed to act on the girl's distress, even when the child approached the teacher five times in the final 45 minutes of her life.

The board has ordered that the affiliation granted to the school up to senior secondary school examination level be withdrawn with immediate effect.

Student in classes 10 and 12 are permitted to appear from the same school for session 2025-26. However, the students who are currently in class 9 and 11 shall be shifted to nearby school by regional officer for session 2026-27.

The school shall not take any new admissions or promote the students of lower classes in 9 and 11 by natural progression. PTI SDA COR ZMN