School authorities of the Fulbari-based Narayana Schools here have asked boarders to go home for a few days so that they can overcome the trauma following the death of a class IX boy yesterday

Rishav Arya, 15, died and another student of the same class Rittik Kumar Singh, was seriously injured when the duo fell from the window of their air-conditioned classroom on the second floor of the school building yesterday afternoon.

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Though Rishav’s father, Arun Kumar Bharti, did not blame the school for the death of his only son, other relatives, including his uncle, today came down heavily on the school in the presence of other guardians.

When Mr Bharti, after receiving the body of his son after post-mortem at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, left for his home in Purnea in Bihar, other students also left their hostel for homes with their guardians this afternoon. Significantly, local guardians are confused over the decision as they did not find any information on the closure on the notice board.

Principal Rajani Prasad was not available for comment, despite several attempts to contact him over phone today. A local guardian, Bijay Kumar Das, said: “A guardian, who came to fetch his son from the hostel, informed me that the school authorities have declared a five-day holiday for boarders. But we don’t know anything about other students and whether the school will remain closed for two or five days. We are confused because there was no information on the notice board and no official was present on behalf of the school management to provide accurate information.”

Senior deputy general manager of Narayana Schools, Satyendra Yadav, however, said that the school will remain closed for two to three days for repair work. “Yesterday’s incident was an accident. Parents had no complaints after they watched the CCTV footage, which was handed over to the police.

“Messages have been sent to the parents about the school closure. Had we committed mistakes, parents would have lodged complaints about negligence or faults. Parents saw the CCTV footage and realized what happened exactly,” he said. “Around 600 students are here. Students come here even from Bhutan and Bangladesh,” Mr Yadav added.

Sources said there are 400 students in the school and around 150 students are in the hostel. “There were many students in the school at the initial stage, but many left and have joined other English medium schools,” they added. “I pay Rs 66,000 as annual fees for my son who is in class VIII. Six students of my family were studying in Narayana Schools at Fulbari. Of them, three have left the school and have taken admissions in other schools. Guardians took such a decision after they lost faith in the management as they failed to fulfill their commitments to provide better education,” Bijay Kumar Das, a guardian, said.

“A group of guardians want administrative intervention in Narayana Schools, where the management demands a huge sum of money during admission of students, but does not take care of them,” Mr Das further alleged.

Sources said the Jalpaiguri district magistrate, Abhishek Kumar Tiwary, has sought a report on the school and he plans to hold a meeting on private schools soon.