Lawsuit against a school teacher

[PNGMK]

Yes I did sent an e-mail asking for a meeting. Still no reply.

Pick up the telephone. IF he doesn't take the call go down and demand to see him.

[PNGMK]

Who paid the school fees? You or your employer? If your employer this gives you more leverage as well.

[abrzakovic]

No, its not payed by employer, unfortunately

[abrzakovic]

Got reply from a principal.
He thinks its not a good idea to have a meeting. Of course he will support the stuff. There are many things that are not matching here.

[Stevie_W]

Well, of course he is going to support the staff. But regardless of that, i thought you wanted the meeting in order to get an explanation for your kid's dismissal, which it seems you don't have yet.

[AngMoG]

Got reply from a principal.
He thinks its not a good idea to have a meeting. Of course he will support the stuff. There are many things that are not matching here.

Don't give up so easily. I think it would be good to really push for that meeting, as it is much better to address those kind of things in person rather than over email.

I would go even further to push for full tuition moneys back (and settle for a significant part if needed), while alluding to negative publicity and legal avenues.

[PNGMK]

Got reply from a principal.
He thinks its not a good idea to have a meeting. Of course he will support the stuff. There are many things that are not matching here.

I was speaking to a lawyer this morning. He feels that your child's constitutional rights to have an education have been infringed.

(HE stated that under the Singapore constitution even a foreigner is covered in this regard). This is a different lawyer to the one I mentioned to you in a PM. PM me for his details.

[x9200]

Of course everybody is covered but how is he deprived of his educational rights? I am not a lawyer but I strongly doubt this is the way to go.

[Addadude]

To the OP.

1. I would INSIST on a meeting with the principal (whether he thinks it is a good idea or not) to discuss in detail the exact reasons for your child's expulsion.

The school may indeed not be the best place for your child and they might ill-equipped to deal with his issues. So removing him from the school may well be for the best. However they should at least discuss the matter with you and refund you the fees which brings me to the second point.

2. I would INSIST on a refund of the tuition fees. If they are not teaching your child anymore they should at least return the balance of the fees to you.

If they refuse to agree to the above two points, a threat to contact the local afternoon rag (with the initials TNP) might be in order. As PNGMK has pointed out, these schools are scared sh*tless of any kind of negative publicity.

I would also threaten to take the matter of unreturned school fees to the Small Claims Tribunal.

[abrzakovic]

Exactly, I asked him for a meeting to understand why my sons has been pushed out from the school with out giving him a chance as well as process of making this decision. And he thinks its not a good idea to have a separate meeting!

[x9200]

I would also threaten to take the matter of unreturned school fees to the Small Claims Tribunal.

Not in the jurisdiction of SCT unless the fees where less than 20k (and for 10 to 20k a consent from both parties is required)

[PNGMK]

To the OP.

1. I would INSIST on a meeting with the principal (whether he thinks it is a good idea or not) to discuss in detail the exact reasons for your child's expulsion.

The school may indeed not be the best place for your child and they might ill-equipped to deal with his issues. So removing him from the school may well be for the best. However they should at least discuss the matter with you and refund you the fees which brings me to the second point.

2. I would INSIST on a refund of the tuition fees. If they are not teaching your child anymore they should at least return the balance of the fees to you.

If they refuse to agree to the above two points, a threat to contact the local afternoon rag (with the initials TNP) might be in order. As PNGMK has pointed out, these schools are scared sh*tless of any kind of negative publicity.

I would also threaten to take the matter of unreturned school fees to the Small Claims Tribunal.

Actually SCT is no use by CPE http://www.cpe.gov.sg/ and maybe CASE might be.

[RobSg]

I was a teacher in Singapore for 21 years, at a "not for profit school". For a few years after that I was a full time relief teacher at all the International Schools and did considerable relief work at Chatsworth. What I pass on to you is only the opinion of an ex-teacher.

Talk to the administrators at Chatsworth. They are fair and accommodating. If they refuse to talk to you about the reasons your child was asked to leave, then I misjudged their character. When I was at Chatsworth or any other school in Singapore, we never gave up on a student unless something was seriously wrong with the fit of student and school. I'm at a loss to explain the situation with your child, but please, talk to the administrators. They care about the students there.

All of the International Schools in Singapore are private, so as far as I know, they have the right to dismiss students for whatever reason they want, right or wrong. I might be wrong, but when I was teaching and teachers and counselors brought up consistently "difficult" students to admin, steps were taken to remedy the situation. If no progress was made after that, then the student was asked to leave. I can't imagine Chatsworth not doing the same.

The support you might get at Stamford American might be a little better. You might check that out.

Best of luck, and again, I'm sorry to hear that.

Rob

[PNGMK]

To me this is looking more and more like a contractual issue.... I would love to see Chatsworth's contract... I bet it fails the good sense test...

"We will take your money in advance but deny your child services on a whim and retain the money".

I really want to see OP test this in court. I bet it can be fought.

[abrzakovic]

Thanks Rob,
Well I guess when you were in that school you did not have this consular. She joined not so long ago, and she has a reputation of doing this kind of things (as I was told). She made decision without giving him a chance to work on issues. I repeat there is nothing wrong with my son, and I am not saying this only as a mother. He just needs time to adjust and a bit of discipline. And definitely he does not need special support since he was doing more than great in a class of 30 kids. Even now, his academic results are very good.
You can not send a child to outside psychologist, and after 2 weeks say the things are not getting better (not to mentioned that in between there was 1 week school brake).
So at the end, what I really think is that the consular is the one with development delay, if you just see her once you can understand. The first time I entered her office, its such a negative attitude, you can feel negative energy all around. The way she talks, acts, she was not listening to real problems, just writing down and using your words against you. She even got upset at outside physiologist for not saying details about his past (and there is nothing that I hide), asking her for what did we sent him to you. The reply of the physiologist was: to get support for the boy that you asked. And than she hang up on a physiologist.
So do you really think this attitude is ok?

The principal doesn't even want to have a meeting with me. And I dont want to see that consular ever in my life! At this moment I she makes me so angry and obviously she know she is doing that to justify her actions!

I am not the only case, as I told you it happened before in the same way with the same consular! She is not helping kids, the moment any kid has any kind of problem, her job is to push them out, and make their job easier!!!

The problem is, this kind of things, are affecting our children, and even if it was not my child, its just not right! This is not a way to teach! Can you just imagine how they are feeling. My son is crying every day, not understanding why he is pushed out. He loves his teacher, friends who are constantly bad with him, it brakes my heart.