Gurugram student murder: Shut your schools if you can't protect the children, Ryan alumna tells management

On Monday while driving back from work, I heard an interview of a parent whose children study in the same school as the child who lost his life in unfortunate circumstances at Ryan International School, Gurugram last week. The father quoted that his children are highly anxious and traumatised by what transpired. They are afraid to go to the toilet in school fearing that someone would kill them. When five-year-old children are compelled to learn terms such as ‘sexual abuse’, ‘murder’, and ‘fear’, the society must come forward and ask important questions like, ‘where are we going wrong?’ [caption id=“attachment_4036599” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Police team arrive to investigate after the murder of a 2nd grade student of Ryan International School in Gurugram on Friday. PTI[/caption] As a psychologist, educator, and an alumnus of Ryan International School, I was horrified to learn that in spite of the exorbitant fees charged by private schools, let alone provide quality education, the authorities have failed to even keep our children safe from sexual predators and murderers. Second such incident in two years at Ryan, with no accountability whatsoever, forces you to ask, is the CEO of Ryan International Groups of Schools (RIGS), Ryan Pinto really the ‘victim’ here as he claims? A three-member committee formed by the district administration to investigate the Gurugram incident found several lapses in the arrangements made by the school. Not surprising given the lackadaisical attitude of the management that the students, teachers, and alumni are familiar with. Instead of stepping up and taking responsibility for things going south, the CEO Ryan Pinto claims that his institution has been “victimised”. After the death of Devansh Kakrora’s at Ryan Vasant Kunj in February last year, the principal of the school also attempted to divert the attention from the school’s negligence by pinning the blame on the child’s “hyperactivity”. Somehow it never occurred to them, if you did have “hyperactive” children in the school, was there not a greater need to secure their well-being and security? On the basis of my 13-year-long experience with Ryan, I believe that not only is the management of RIGS responsible for the deaths but they must also be held accountable for the innumerable unethical and irresponsible behaviour they engaged for long. As a private school promising ‘International’ schooling experiences, RIGS has exploited many parents, teachers, and children. Freedom to think, a necessary component for the development of psychological well-being of children, does not exist in Ryan. Teachers and students are forced to think what the management finds appropriate. Harassment of teachers and parents is a common knowledge among everyone. In fact, some of the students even joined teachers in a strike against the management couple of years back. Vibha Kapani, who taught at Ryan Vasant Kunj said, “When I was teaching at Ryan, I was always apprehensive of that unlocked door near the amphitheater where that boy drowned. Many times I told the gardener to keep it shut. But when you hire teachers for peanuts then, of course, the quality and care of the school will go down.” She was referring to the death of Kakrora. Sadly, a boy had to drown for us to understand that education cannot be treated as a consumerist affair, maximising profit and minimising loss. As the head girl of the school (batch of 2007) whose sisters also graduated from the same school and a connect of over 25 years, I feel extremely concerned when I hear the name of this institution taken in connection with murders of children. It is high time that the Pinto family realises that the mismanagement on their part is no longer a question of disgruntled students, parents, and teachers. It is taking lives of young children. If nothing else, then please at least take care of the safety of our children inside your campus. Else, shut your schools down. The author is a psychologist and assistant professor at University of Delhi. She was the head girl of Ryan International School, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.