Kottayam: After a photograph of uniform wearing, school girls got circulated on Facebook, the school came into a raging controversy in Kottayam. Photographer Zachariah Ponkunnam reportedly labelled the school’s uniform ‘vulgar’ and posted an image of the same on Facebook.
The school reportedly started getting criticism and complaints afterwards. It had to appoint a five-member PTA executive committee to look into the complaints. The PTA held an emergency meeting on Saturday afternoon, Indian Express reports.
As per the reports, school’s PTA decided to change the uniform for girls of classes 5 to 10 as students felt disturbed after the incident. They will now wear an overcoat instead of the ‘controversial half jacket’ and the expenses for the change will be borne by the school.
The photo was taken and blurred before being circulated with the caption: “This is the uniform that students wear in a school in Aruvithura. Look, how vulgarly it has been designed.”
Ponkunnam said, “a friend from Erattupetta saw the students in new uniform and clicked a photo. He sent it to me. After blurring their faces, I posted it on Facebook on Friday night, asking those on social media to react to this vulgar design and demanded a change.”
A person called Noushad Thekkayil from Kozhikode filed a complaint against the school authorities with the Child Rights Commission over the ‘inappropriateness’ of the school uniform. In the complaint, he demanded that action ought to be taken against the school at the earliest, according to the reports.
Meanwhile, the Principal of the institution Sr Rosily said the photo of the uniform which went viral was not similar to the original uniform.
“They are spreading a photograph which has been photoshopped. We have not received any complaints from the parents regarding the uniform till now. We have given complaint with the police against such defamatory campaigns against the school. We have also appointed a five-member PTA executive committee to enquire whether there are any complaints regarding the school uniform. We would take further action after the report from the committee,” principal told.
Sabu Cyriac, PTA President, said that the school has neither received any complaints from the parents nor students. “We chose the design from a booklet that illustrated various types of uniforms. The school purchased the cloth and stitched the uniform for its students. Obscenity is in the eyes of the beholder,“ he said.