Want ward in school? Ask police to certify your character

Want your child admitted to a reputed school? Be ready to produce a character certificate.

Sounds bizarre, right? But this  school in Juhu has its argument ready. It has to do with security threats, the authorities say. Parents must submit a character certificate verifying that they have no criminal background.

Fatima Sheikh (name changed), a parent who approached the school to get her kid admitted in senior KG, was prepared for long queues, interviews and waiting lists, but not for several trips to the police station.

According to the specifications of the school, the character certificate has to be obtained from the crime branch of the police. It must carry mention of any previous criminal case such as theft, murder and accident against the parents.

“We had to submit the certificate within 10 days. My husband had to take leave from work to ensure the progress of the certificate. We also had to give bribes to officers so that they would speed up the process,” she said.

The school authorities said they adopted this policy after the police issued an advisory in December 2010 to all city schools to step up security measures as they were likely to be soft targets for terrorist activities.

“This is a security measure to ensure that we don’t have the wrong kind of people entering the institution, which could lead to a security threat to all our students. These measures have been incorporated by our management after considerable representation from the parents and adequate thought to serve the best interest of our students,’’ said the principal of the school.

She said the school has installed closed circuit television camera network and provided additional security, both during and after school hours, as security measures. “We have asked the certificate from parents not to eliminate children of parents with a criminal record but to evaluate the risk profile based on the information provided,” she said.

If the parents are not happy, then the police are not amused too. A senior official from the crime branch said, “Running a background check on parents is a time consuming affair and requires many resources. We have to report even minor crimes like accidents. The process generally takes more than 30 days. It is taxing on the police department as well.”

Sunil Chavan, deputy director of education, said schools are not allowed to have any sort of screening process while admitting children. “A school leaving certificate, bona fide or birth certificate are the only documents that schools can ask for. We have not given the school permission to ask for character certificates,” he said.