Uproar over school's absence fee demand

A public school’s decision to slap BD100 fine on parents in the event of consecutive absence of their children has created uproar in the Parliament.

A parent, who received a letter from the school demanding the fine on Tuesday, immediately posted the letter on local social media networks. It sparked a huge buzz among Bahrainis.

The matter was raised in the Parliament weekly meeting on Tuesday by MP Mohammed Al Maarifi. “This could only happen in Bahrain,” he commented.

 “How could a Vice Principal of a school introduce such fines and attempt to implement them on parents, without any respect to the legislative or executive authorities in the country?” Al Maarifi queried.

Commenting on the issue, Parliament and Information affairs Minister Isa bin Abdulrahman Al Hammadi said, “These are rumours and should not be spread though the Council of Representatives. The matter must be officially referred to the government before making any statements.”

Al Maarifi also showed the copy of the letter saved in his smartphone. “We don’t follow rumours and we must step up as representatives to support citizens from the additional fees and expenses that are suddenly imposed on them every now and then,” he added.

Education Ministry clarifies

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry later said in a press statement that it had notified the school about the violation, confirming that appropriate administrational measures are being taken to prevent the repetition of such errors.

However, the Ministry also explained that “legally, the parents of children, who are in the age group of mandatory education (6-15 years), are obliged to ensure that their children attend schools and not to be absent without a reasonable excuse for more than 10 days.”

The Ministry also reiterated that “issuing the circular from the school was a clear violation.”