Viqarunnisa sacks Principal, two other teachers

The Viqarunnisa Noon School and College has sacked its Acting Principal Nazneen Ferdous and two other teachers following two days of protests surrounding the death of a student, reports bdnews24.com.

The two other teachers are morning shift in-charge Zinat Akhtar and class teacher Hasna Hena.

The institution's governing body took the decision to fire them after an emergency meeting following government orders on Wednesday.

Dilip Adhikary, the father of the dead ninth grader Aritry Adhikary, had already started a case against the three accusing them of instigating the girl to take her own life.

Earlier in the day, the government cancelled the facilities the trio had been enjoying under its monthly pay order or MPO programme.

The education ministry has also asked police and Rapid Action Battalion to act against them following the case started by Dilip.

"We did exactly what the education ministry asked us to do," Mushtari Sultana, a teachers' representative in the governing body, told the news agency after the meeting.

The institution has rescheduled its annual exams amid the protests.

FE Report adds: Students continued their demonstration for the second consecutive day on Wednesday to press home their six-point demand including trial of those responsible for the suicide of the ninth-grader on Monday.

The Ministry of Education in letters on Wednesday asked the Rapid Action Battalion and the police to take legal action against three teachers of the school, including its acting principal Nazneen Ferdous.

The other two teachers are morning shift in-charge Jinnat Ara and class teacher Hasna Hena.

The letters were addressed to the RAB director general and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner.

On the other hand, the education ministry sent another letter to the Dhaka Education Board chairman ordering expulsion of the three teachers and also other departmental action against them.

Besides, in another letter the director general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education was ordered to withdraw the monthly payment order (MPO) facilities of the three teachers.

During the second day of protests, the students along with their guardians took position in front of the main gate of the school in the city's Baily Road Area.

The tragic death of the ninth-grader touched the heart of almost every girl and guardian of the school. They continued voicing their anger against the different irregularities in a posh school of the capital since Tuesday morning.

On Wednesday they were protesting against the tragedy, for which they were blaming the school staffs.

They were shouting various slogans and waving placards showing their demand and aversion against the school for various irregularities including extreme humiliation over minor offences.

They demanded assurance for not harassing any girl mentally or physically, not serving transfer certificate (TC) on a trifling matter and engaging a psychologist in each class for ensuring good mental health of the girls.

They also called for resignation of each member of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College (VNSC) governing body for not playing due role. Voicing anger over the issues, the VNSC girls sporadically shouted slogans in front of their school wearing black badges.

One of them Anushka Roy told the journalist that they would continue their movement, until their demands were met.

"We heard some of our demands were accepted. But we want clear response fulfilling all our demand," she told the media on Wednesday afternoon.

Many guardians also took part in the movement to express their anger towards the school for not maintaining the quality despite a good sum of money charged in the name of education.

The teachers of this school misbehave with not only the students but also with the guardians, said Mrs Fahmida Ahmed, a guardian of a ninth-grader.

They don't duly teach the girls in the classroom for luring them to private coaching centres, she said.

The movement is an outburst against the violation of their rights.

"They (VNSC teachers) need psychological counseling to become more humane," said Mrs Ahmed, who herself is an alumnus of the renowned school.

Meanwhile, the video footage of alleged humiliation of Aritri and her parents has been viral on social media sites including Facebook.

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