Transfer of Student to Another School

Transfer of Student to Another School

Orders N 1640-N and N 1365-N of the RA Minister of Education and Science outline the procedure for admission, transfer and dismissal of a student in the secondary school. In the case of transfer, the parent should first submit the transfer card to the new school, where a relevant note is made as to which school is admitting the child. Then the card should be submitted to the former school, which after receiving the information on the new school’s location, releases to the parent the child’s school documents, current grades and absenteeism record. Thus, the former school is informed of the new school’s location. Often abusers go to the child’s school on the pretext of wanting to see the child and are able to discover the child’s new school location. This can create a serious breach of safety. If the victim is at the shelter or if it is too dangerous for the mother to go to the former school to obtain the transfer forms, the child could be left out of the educational system. To this day, the Ministry of Education is not offering any amendments to its regulations for children victims of DV. Also, the school administration should be trained in safety plans and the dangers for victims of DV so that the child may be protected from the abuser.

Those mothers, who have not yet been granted custody by the court, consider the school as the only possible place to visit the child. We had cases, when the school principal called the mother and told her not to come to school to see her child unless she had a court decision. But instead, when the child lives with the mother and the abuser wants to see the child at the school, the school supports him in every way. Here we see a double-standard.