Parents protest over dog attack in school

VADODARA: Angry over Thursday's incident of a class two student being mauled by dogs, parents of schoolchildren held a protest at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's VM Public School on Friday. They demanded immediate action from the management over alleged negligence of school officials in protecting the children against dog menace.
Seven-year-old Mehnaz Jamali had sustained multiple wounds after she was mauled by dogs that had attacked her along with others from her class when they were going to another class.
As pressure mounted, principal Hemant Kumar and vice-principal Manisha Sathe resigned. Parents, however, have given a call for mass bunk from Saturday onwards saying they will send their wards to the school only after the trust that manages the school accepts the resignations. Presence of police and stray dogs at the school campus further angered parents who demanded that police register a case in the matter."It is a very natural reaction of parents. During our meeting with them, I have assured them that we will address all their concerns. Our Mumbai-based trust office-bearers will take the final decision on the resignations," Dipak Dalal, school's director for Gujarat region, told TOI.
Sathe, who was 'gheraoed', said she along with other school officials had made several attempts to ensure safety of the children.
"The compound wall of our school is shared by Baroda Dairy on one side and Indian Army on the other. We have time and again asked Baroda Dairy to raise its height," said Sathe.
"We have decided that we will sit with the management only after they accept the resignations. Till then we will not send our kids to the school," said parent Sameer Patel, adding that many of the pending demands include improvement in food served to the students, formation of parents teachers association and improving infrastructure at the school.