Glass chip in Gujarat school meal sparks parent protest; probe on
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Several parents protested outside Anand Niketan School in Ahmedabad’s Shilaj area on Tuesday after a piece of glass was allegedly found in food served to a Class 8 student a day earlier. The incident later triggered allegations that the school was 'discriminating' against a particular religion with students being made to read books by Nobel Prize-winning Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai and German-born Jewish Holocaust victim Anne Frank.
The school issued a statement saying it had taken “immediate corrective measures”, including changes in supervisory responsibility and a comprehensive review and strengthening of hygiene, food-safety and quality-control protocols.
The Ahmedabad District Education Officer (DEO) issued a show-cause notice to the school, seeking an explanation over the alleged “glass chip” found in the food. The school later informed parents that its primary sections would remain closed on Wednesday.
The incident occurred on Monday when a Class 8 student allegedly felt something hard in his mouth while eating lunch consisting of ladyfinger, dal, chapati and rice served on the school campus. The student realised he had chewed a piece of glass, his father, Malav Shah, told The Indian Express. According to Shah, his son reported the matter to his teacher and handed over the remaining piece of glass after swallowing part of it.
Several parents visited the school on Tuesday and demanded that the glass piece be handed over to them so it could be shown to the doctor treating the child. Shah alleged that his son was taken to a hospital instead of the school infirmary and that the parents were asked to reach the hospital.
“We accept that there can be human error but the school management has been behaving in a very irresponsible manner,” Shah alleged.
He said the doctor wanted to examine the glass piece to determine whether an endoscopy was required, warning of the risk of bleeding. Shah also alleged that no teacher was present at the hospital at the time.
“A child’s life is not that cheap. The school should take responsibility that this has happened but they are not doing so. They should hand over the piece to us,” he said.
Shah also alleged that Class 5 students were being asked to “compulsorily study” books by Malala Yousafzai and Anne Frank.
Responding to the allegations, the school said literary works by internationally recognised authors, including Malala Yousafzai and Anne Frank, are part of widely recognised educational literature and are included in its Book Club to encourage age-appropriate reading, reflection, empathy and global awareness among students.
The school also said it had strengthened its morning fitness programme through physical exercise and yoga. It added that daily shlokas continued to be recited during breakfast and lunch, while morning assemblies in the secondary section continued to be conducted by the duly elected Student Council to promote responsibility, participation and student leadership.
The school later announced a holiday for its primary sections on Wednesday, after retracting earlier messages stating that teachers would be taking a “mental health break”.
The first message, sent to parents around 5 pm on Tuesday, said the school team was taking a short break for a few days due to “extreme harassment and mental distress” allegedly experienced by staff at the hands of some parents. The school withdrew the message within an hour and sent a revised communication stating that Classes 9 to 12 would function as usual, while the remaining classes would have a holiday on Wednesday.
In its statement to the media, the school also raised concerns over an “unauthorised gathering” within the school premises, saying such situations could create avoidable safety and security concerns for students and staff.
Asked about the conflicting messages, a school spokesperson said a teacher who had access to the school’s messaging platform had sent the first communication to parents. The school said it had taken action against the teacher and issued a corrected message.
In its notice, Ahmedabad DEO Rohit Chaudhary directed the school management to submit a detailed explanation of the incident, including details of the source or agency that prepared or supplied the food, verification and inspection carried out by the school regarding food quality and safety, immediate action taken after the incident and corrective measures introduced to prevent similar incidents.
The DEO also ordered an immediate inspection and sought a report based on information received from students and parents, examination of CCTV footage, and photographs, samples or any other available evidence related to the incident.
