Maninder Kaur Rosha, whose son Fateh was in Grade 4 at Colmont School, says the students are “full of tears”.
“On late Wednesday [27 July], we were notified by email that the school was going into voluntary administration and on Thursday, we were told that Friday would be the last day of school. It's just shocking and unbelievable,” she tells SBS Punjabi.
Ms Rosha, who lives in Cragieburn in Melbourne’s north, says hundreds of children from her suburb were enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) school.
Just a handful of schools in Victoria offer this curriculum, and Colmont School was the closest option for those living in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.
The Craigieburn-based Rosha family is part of #savetkis campaign. Source: Supplied by Mrs Rosha
“There is no other IB school in our 60 km radius; where will the affected students go now?” she asks.
"Where are they going to get the quality education they were receiving, and who will be responsible for the ruined friendships? It's not as easy to find a new school as it seems."
Affected families gathered on Friday for a community meeting at Assumption College to receive information and meet with staff and administrators.
Ms Rosha, who attended the meeting, claims families were given only vague information that effectively meant “you are on your own now”.
“The authorities [administrators] said that after heavy losses, the school ran out of funds and sought additional financial support from government and banking institutions, but they were denied," she says.
“With limited funds, the school announced it would finish off the ongoing term for grades 11 and 12 until they can be transitioned to other schools."
Many of those affected, including students and staff, gathered at the school on 1 August demanding a government intervention to "save the school".
Ms Rosha says she and her husband went to their local MPs to discuss the matter only to be told by staff that "it’s a private school, and there is a limit to what government can do about it”.
"All the families and teachers want this historic school to be saved. The government should step in and help these heartbroken kids,” she says.
SBS Punjabi contacted the office of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and is still waiting for a reply.
Harman Chopra, whose son Dev is in Grade 6, says the first information they received about the closure came last Wednesday around 5:30 pm from the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA), a state government body responsible for Victoria’s education.
“The school itself didn’t initiate anything; instead, VRQA told us that we need to find an alternate place in the nearest neighbourhood government school, provided that school has sufficient space to accommodate us,” she says.
"We were in shock! How can they just kick us out?"
Ms Chopra says that within hours of the closure email, she started filling in enquiry forms and ringing other schools for her 11-year-old son.
Harman and Naveen Chopra with their 11-year-old son Dev. Source: Supplied by Ms Chopra.
"Neither Hume Anglican Grammar nor Aitken College around my area has any vacancies for next year's Grade 7. They already are at full capacity, so where do we go now?"
"Going from primary to secondary school is already a transition for a student. We chose Kilmore for our son in Grade 6 for a smooth transition to secondary next year, but it's unbelievable that something like this could ever happen."
"This is a premier institution for education, it needs to be saved," she says.
'The school was still taking admissions mid-term'
Seventh-grader Abhijot Singh started at Colmont School on 19 July only to find out the school would be closing a week and a half later.
His father, Jaswinder Singh, tells SBS Punjabi that the family does not have words to explain how devastated they are.
My son went to his new school for just one and a half weeks.
Mr Singh says Abhijot went for a scholarship exam on 19 February and they received a call from the school in mid-March.
"On 22 March, we were booked for an interview with the principal of the school, who offered us a 75 per cent scholarship and two days to accept the offer. We happily accepted the offer and instantaneously paid the fees for terms 3 and 4."
"Now we are in a situation where my academically brilliant son doesn't have any school to go to. Hume Grammar, where he went from prep till half term grade 7, is not taking him back as my son has lost his spot," Mr Singh says.
Craigieburn's Veena Sharma says her son, Manav Singh Virk, also started at the school in Grade 8 with a scholarship just two weeks ago and now has nowhere to go.
"If the school was closing, why did they displace our kids and ruin their year?" questions Ms Sharma.
SBS Punjabi has seen written proof of at least three students being admitted to the school within the current term.
'Lesson learnt: Never just go just by the education, you must also know about management'
Affected students and staff have been raising their voice via the #savetkis campaign. Source: TKIS
Ms Chopra says that they've learnt through this 'difficult' experience that parents need to be careful when choosing a school.
"We only see the ratings, scores, the atmosphere and the culture of the school.
"After this incident, I believe that the role of the VRQA should be more transparent, and parents should never trust any school blindly, no matter how old it is," she says.
Click on the audio player to listen to this conversation in Punjabi.
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