After keeping the parents in dizzy for more than a week, the Raj Nagar Extension branch of Presidium School has seemed to resolve its internal matter. On Friday, a letter came from the school management intimating their decision of retaining the name of the school as Presidium in place of Prudence.
"The school was renamed to Prudence without our consent and we were informed through a circular post-Holi," a parent said on the condition of anonymity.
The parents had objected to the change. “We suddenly get to know our children are studying in a school with an unknown name,” a parent told City Spidey.
On March 21, the guardians of students at Presidium, Raj Nagar Extension were informed through a circular the school was dissociating from the name ‘Presidium’ and changing it into ‘Prudence’. The circular had stated the decision was taken due to the "failure of the Presidium management to deliver standards commensurate with their professed vision of providing excellence in education".
The circular was signed by Shraddha Agarwal, vice principal (VP) of the school. It also mentioned GS Matharoo, who was part of the management team of the Presidium group in the role of an advisor. In the circular, his designation read ‘Chairman of Prudence’. However, the chairman of Presidium Schools and founder of Mother's Pride a chain of playschools is Sudha Gupta.
We tried to contact Matharoo and Gupta several times but our multiple calls went unanswered. City Spidey's correspondent went to the school too but it was found locked.
A sigh of relief for parents!
The unreachability of the staff for communication had further agitated the parents. "Now I can relax. I was worried as I had already paid the fees for the first quarter and was unsure whether to keep my ward in the school or not," a parent said.
Moreover, many parents had started searching for admission of their wards in other schools "Nobody knows Prudence while Presidium is a brand. Even if I retain my daughter's admission, I was not ready to pay the same fees as charged by Presidium," Shraddha Srivastava, a parent told City Spidey.
However, parents who didn't want to continue their wards' studies with Prudence, faced difficulty in finding seats in other schools. "New batch has already started and seats were full in all reputed schools," said Shivalika Singh, a parent.
Speculations
Meanwhile, due to lack of communication with the management, rumours were rife the decision was a result of internal conflict between the board members. Many also said the move was aimed at averting the payment to the investors in an alleged Ponzi scheme run by the school authority.
Many parents who had invested huge money in the school have stopped receiving interest from the school for a few months now, they claimed on the condition of anonymity.
According to the parents, the school had offered them to invest money and get an interest amount on their capital every month till their ward is studying in the school. They were also offered to avail free education of their ward in return for the investment. "The whole capital would be withdrawn once my ward completes the schooling," a parent who invested over Rs 20 lakh claimed.
City Spidey tried repeatedly to take the version of the school regarding the issue but the calls went unanswered. However, VP Shraddha Agarwal did came on call but she refused to comment on the matter.
