The playschool has not paid salary to its staff for around three months which has got the parents worried about the future of their wards
It was pandemonium outside a noted children’s playschool centre in Vastrapur on Thurs day morning after parents of 89 children enrolled there staged a protest. Trouble started when six teachers and the centre head at the Vastrapur branch of the playschool resigned after their salaries were not paid for the last three months; this worried the parents about their ward’s future coupled with the lack of assurances coming from the playschool authorities.
Tree House Play Group and Nursery has been in news recently for all the wrong reasons. Parents of children enrolled in its Mumbai centres approached police on December 14 after many of its centres were closed overnight. Parents in Ahmedabad who were aware about the issue in Mumbai sensed trouble after seven teachers decided to quit the Vastrapur centre.
Police had to soon intervene as angry parents did not receive a satisfactory response from the playschool centre authorities. “We worry because there is no clarity whether the centre will continue functioning or not. All teachers have resigned. Christmas vacation at the centre starts from Saturday till January 2. Nobody is tells us if this Tree House centre will reopen on January 2 or not,“ said one of the protesting parent, Varsha Gandhi (30).
The playschool has four centres apart from several franchises in Ahmedabad. The four centres are located in Thaltej, Vastrapur, Bopal and Prahaladnagar. In all, there are 21 teachers apart from staff who have not been paid for last two three months.
“This issue has been lingering since Diwali when the nursery was closed down for the first time albeit for a little while. When we inquired, we were told that the staff has not been paid salary and we felt that their interest in grooming our children was going down. On Wednesday centre head Divya Francis told us that all seven teachers have resigned. There is no sign of new teachers and we wondered what if they do not open the centre after Christmas vacation,“ said another parent Manjari Chaudhary (29).
“They have taken five cheques in advance. The year’s fee is close to Rs 28,000. Why should we be losing out on money? We tried contacting Tree House’s office in Mumbai but nobody answers our calls,“ said Nikita Patel one of the parents whose ward is enrolled in the Vastrapur centre. Parents have also demanded that Tree House issues a certificate so that they can secure an admission for their ward in other play houses.
Francis however informed parents that they do not have certificates at the centre. “The cheque receive here has been sent to the Mumbai office. We get certificates from Mumbai as and when we need it,“ she Francis. Francis confirmed that seven teachers will not be coming from Saturday. “But we are sure that Tree House is in process to appoint a new centre head and teachers,“ she said.
According to Bhavin Choksi, area head for the school in Ahmedabad, there have been issues of delayed salary as well as non-payment of rent to property owners where the playschool and Nursery is run.
Source – Ahmedabad Mirror – 23rd December 2016
