Australian student expelled after playing in tennis tournament

The headmaster of a private school in Australia has defended expelling a 12-year-old student after he took time off school to play in a national tennis tournament. Photo / 123rf

A student at an Australian private school has been expelled after he played in a national tennis competition.

Twelve-year-old Aarav was at the first day of a Tennis Australia invitational competition when he found out he was not able to return to classes at Redeemer Baptist School in Sydney, A Current Affair reported.

The boy’s parents told the programme they requested time out of class for the competition, and the school responded with “we are withdrawing his enrolment and expelling him from the school”.

They said the decision was unfair for Aarav, who worked hard to excel in both academics and sport.

He does well at school, achieving high grades in most subjects.

Aarav’s days are taken up by school, training and homework, his mum told the programme.

“I do homework during school hours, recess and lunch, and on the school bus”, the student said.

“I don’t think I should be expelled for missing a week to go to some major event for nationals and stuff like that.”

His parents have not found a school for him to attend immediately, but have lined up enrolment for next year, they said.

The school’s headmaster Russell Bailey said in a statement to the programme that parents are required to “seek advance permission when their child requires absence for sporting events or other activities that are not school-related“.

The school was unable to discuss the situations of individual students because of privacy laws, Bailey said.

“However, in general terms, we can say that we will revoke an enrolment if a parent repeatedly fails to follow the school’s requirements and does not work with us in the interests of their child’s education.”

School fees do not need to be paid after that point.

“Given our expectations are clear from the start, this happens very rarely, and it is a very sad and disappointing outcome for everyone.”