BSS-45 Govt orders suspension of 3 Viqarunnisa teachers

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VIQARUNNISA-SUSPENSION-TEACHERS-LEAD

Govt orders suspension of 3 Viqarunnisa teachers

DHAKA, Dec 5, 2018 (BSS) – The government today ordered
suspension of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College principal and two
other teachers, whose rude behaviors allegedly prompted a ninth grade
girl of the rated school to commit suicide, amid mounting public anger.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid today announced the decision
calling a press conference at his Bangladesh Secretariat office saying
the governing body of the school was asked to suspend the three and
decided to stop their monthly pay order (MPO), the government
contribution to the teachers’ salary, over teenage Aritry Adhikary’s
suicide.

“We are getting many complaints including teachers misconducts with
guardians . . . this incident exposed the school’s original picture,” Nahid
said adding that the authorities concerned were asked to take legal
action against them.

The three teachers are acting principal Nazneen Ferdous, shift-in-
charge of morning shift Jeenat Ara and Aritry’s class teacher Hasna
Hena.

Nahid said the ministry simultaneously started to collect information
regarding various irregularities that included realization of extra
admission fee from students and opening branches without education
ministry approval.

The minister warned teachers of school, colleges and universalities to
refrain from both physical and mental torture with students but vowed to
expose them to stern punitive action.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia,
meanwhile, said they received a letter from the education ministry
seeking to initiate appropriate legal procedure on the suicide.

The girl’s father Dilip Adhikary sued overnight the three detailing the
moments before her death and accused the three Viqarunnisa Girls
School teachers of virtually forcing her to commit suicide on charges of
simply carrying a cell phone.

He said their daughter earnestly sought apology in tearful eyes and
even tried to grab the principal’s feet and while being her parents they
also cried but failed to melt the teachers mind prompting the adolescent
girl to end her own life.

According to the one-page complaint lodged with police, the girl went to
the school with the cell phone on December 3 when one of the three
teachers seized the device and asked her parents to report to her next
day.

Adhikary alleged that as he along with his wife went to the school along
with their daughter they were received with humiliation while class
teacher Hasna Hena kept them waiting for a long time and eventually
appeared with a very agitated mood and “told us that Aritry will be given
a TC”.

“As we went to meet the school’s (acting) principal, Nazneen Ferdous,
my daughter immediately touched her feet and begged her forgiveness,”
he wrote.

Adhikary added: “We (parents) also asked for her forgiveness thinking
about our daughter’s uncertain future. Then we all started crying . . . I
pleaded with them to give my daughter a second chance”.

“But all our efforts failed to soften her,” he said.

A humiliated Aritry then suddenly disappeared from the principal’s
room leaving her parents there and went back her nearby house where
she hanged herself with the ceiling fan locking the doors of her room.

Adhikary said his daughter knew seven different languages and got an
award from British Council as best book reader while she had secured
GPA-5 in her Primary Education Completion Examination and Junior
School Certificate examinations in 2014 and 2017.

Nazneen Ferdous, however, declined the allegations saying as the
Aritry’s parents came to her along with their daughter she said the school
management would inform about their decision about the TC later.

Aritry’s friends in school staged protests in front of the school carrying
placards with guardians standing beside them while the social media like
Facebook was flooded with castigations angry comments demanding
stern actions against the teachers.

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP), the leading women rights
watchdog, meanwhile, requested Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for
taking legal actions after a proper investigation.

“Bangladesh Mahila Parishad is requesting you for taking departmental
and legal actions against the accused teachers of student’s suicide after
conducting a fair and neutral investigation,” the BMP wrote in a letter to
the premier while it was signed by the organization’s president Ayesha
Khanm and general secretary Maleka Banu.

BMP also requested the Prime Minister for taking steps to ensure
security of Aritry’s family.

BSS/MMR-SAH/AR/2010 hrs