Following the massive uproar over the brutal murder of seven-year-old Pradhyumn Thakur and demands of strict action against the school, Ryan Pinto, CEO of Ryan International Schools Group, made a shockingly arrogant claim. Pinto said, the school should not be held "culpable of a crime where it is itself a victim of unfortunate circumstances."

Nothing can be farther from the truth. Schools these days are hardly victims of anything. Though they like to portray themselves as such at every given opportunity. From making parents stand in queues for hours to get their children admitted to annual fee hikes, schools have been exploiting the rotten education system in India to their advantage. Looking at the facts of the case, how Mr. Pinto can even take a high moral stand in the circumstances shows a lack of basic human decency. Has Pinto even met the parents of the class 2 student who his school failed to protect? Did he offer a personal apology to them for allowing a brutal murder to take place on his establishment? Did he even pay his condolences?

The incident has raised many unanswered questions. Why was the bus conductor allowed to use the same toilet as students of junior classes? How did he manage to carry a knife into the campus? Why did no one notice any sounds raised by the victim or spot blood on the conductor if he did commit the crime? The CCTV footage is of such poor quality that it fails to clearly identify the accused. Ryan Pinto must answer these questions, but he has come across as a typical 'Richie Rich' businessman more concerned about negative publicity than the loss of an innocent life.Even as a basic service provider, a business, an organisation that charges annual fees including security charges, the school cannot escape responsibility for the welfare of its students. Following directions by the ML Khattar government a criminal case under the Juvenile Justice Act has already been filed against the school. The least that is expected from the Ryan School CEO and administration is that they own up to their failure which resulted in the death of a seven-year-old boy. Especially considering the damning report exposing glaring lapses in security protocol.

Sadly, the attitude of Ryan Pinto is in keeping with the high-handedness of most ‘high-profile’ private schools especially in the Delhi NCR region. Admissions are a lottery and principals are accustomed to visits by local politicians and police officers seeking favours. This gives them a position of dominance over parents who pay exorbitant fees yet always find themselves on the backfoot when it comes to dealing with rude teachers or school authorities. The victim’s father has sought a CBI probe into the murder of his son. He believes the arrest of the bus conductor is part of a cover-up and has hinted at a rift with the school authorities over a fee hike. While this may be, an emotional outburst triggered by an unthinkable personal loss, it does show the level of distrust between parents and schools. Gurukuls and gurus have a special place in Indian culture but the modern day private school mafia has taken emotions out of the equation. It is a business. And in this business, our children are merely a collateral.

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