How callousness of Orchids International School in Jubilee Hills is putting the safety of children at risk

Hyderabad: On Tuesday morning, Syed Abdul Wahid dropped his 6-year-old son in Orchids International School at Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad. It was his son's second day at school. At around 3:45 pm, when he was in the office, he got a call from his wife. Her voice cracked. She was crying on the other end of the phone. "I can't find our son in the school."

Syed immediately rushed to the school. The school authorities also had no clue where the boy was. Finally, his son was traced on a bus 1.5 hours later. Syed and his wife still recall that 1.5 hours with dread.

The school authorities had put the boy on the bus by mistake when Syed had not opted for a transportation facility. Syed and his family, who stayed just lanes away in Kavuri Hills thought that they would drop and pick up their son on their own.

"It was scary. Nobody knew where my son was. The school management also sounded careless. The Principal of the school said that "we have finally found the child, so it is not an issue," says Syed.

In a similar incident, another parent Ravikant also had a troublesome evening when his son did not reach home. Unlike Syed, he had opted for a transportation facility for his son. "Yesterday was his first day at school. He went to school around 7:40 am and reached back home at 5:30 pm. He was exhausted and later got a fever," says Ravikanth.

Usually, the school gets over at 3:30 pm. Ravikanth lives at Kondapur, around 5 km from Orchids International. Normally, his son should have been home by 4 pm or 4:30 pm.

"Luckily it was my work from home day and I called and enquired the bus driver. They still did not inform us about the reason for the delay instead kept on saying that my son will reach home in 10 mins," he said.

"There was no board, it was not the usual yellow color bus. No one could identify it's a school bus. Also, there was no lady staff on the bus. The management did not inform us about the delay," says Ravikant.

Another important point Ravikant highlight is that nobody even bothered to ask the kids if they were hungry or thirsty.

According to the parents, the school authorities did not have a clue as to how to disperse the students back home in an organised manner and on the first day when the school reopened, there confusion and chaos all around with some parents facing trouble to find their children.

Soon after this incident, Syed withdrew his son's admission from the school. He also filed a case at the Madhapur police station against the school management for their careless attitude. "We send our kids to schools expecting them to be safe and secure there. This is a serious issue," he says.

Another parent said that there was a bus break down and his son also reached home late on Monday but the parents were not informed about the delay. When he approached the school authorities, he said that they responded positively and that the corrective measures were being taken.

NewsMeter tried contacting the school management but they haven't responded. The copy will be updated once we hear from them.