HYDERABAD: R Krishnaveni, a single mother, recently went to a prominent city school to admit her son, Sreekar, in kindergarten.
She found everything to her satisfaction but came across one stumbling block. The management inisted on recording the father’s name in the register.
That hurdle may soon be removed, with the State Government mooting the recording of the mother’s name. Currently, it is examining the legal implications.
“We will do it after resolving all obstacles.
In these days of single-parenting, insisting on the father’s name is absurd,’’ School Education Minister D Manikya Vara Prasad told ENS. If things work out, single mothers are likely to be permitted to have the children registered under their names.
As per existing norms, a child is admitted only after registration in the name of the father or male guardian. There is no provision for recording the mother’s name. For the past few years, many such cases have been pending with the School Education Department, especially from West Godavari, Mahaboobnagar and Hyderabad.
In many cases, either the mother or children wish to record the mother’s
name in the school register instead of the father’s due to emotional reasons,’’
said a senior official in the School Education department.
Even though some women succeed in getting their name recorded as “guardian’’, they are forced to “correct’’ it at a later stage due to legal and procedural difficulties. According to the officials, children who do not have their father’s name in records, have trouble during their Intermediate, undergraduate or postgraduate studies.Hence, changing norms at school level alone does not solve the problem.
Higher education too must be brought into the ambit of the reform.
Courts also insist on SSC certificates of children in cases of property disputes
involving their father. In view of these issues, officials are learnt to be contemplating including two columns (for mother and father), making one of them optional. They have been asked to consult academics and officials of other departments in this regard. Also under consideration are possibilities of addressing certain legal issues, especially pertaining to property disputes before altering the norms permitting mother’s name in school records.