A mathematics teacher of a Bengaluru school was dismissed from her job on Saturday after parents staged a protest alleging that she had made derogatory comments against minority students in the backdrop of the hijab row the previous day.
The police were called in to disperse a group of protesters outside Vidyasagar English Public School in Chandra Layout II stage and education officials conducted a probe. Classes were suspended for the day.
One parent later lodged a police complaint against the teacher for hurting the religious sentiments of minority students. The parent alleged that the teacher had written derogatory words on the blackboard. When they returned home on Friday, the students narrated what had happened in the classroom to their parents who decided to stage a protest the next morning.
‘Teacher misunderstood’
There are varying versions of what actually happened in the classroom with the teacher denying the allegations. An education department official who was at the school told the media that some parents misunderstood and took offence.
Bengaluru South Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Bylanjanappa, said he spoke to students, teachers and others after the incident. “The teacher was educating students about school uniforms. A few students were creating a ruckus in the classroom,” he said. To discipline them, she wrote the first letter of each of their names on the blackboard. “Some students misunderstood the letters written on the board and may have discussed it with their parents who came to the school on Saturday morning,” he said.
While the teacher has been dismissed from her job, the school principal’s version of what unfolded in the classroom was similar to Mr. Bylanjanappa’s account. “I have been in this institute for 15 years. Till date this kind of incident has never happened. Parents have always been very cooperative with us,” said Shivakumar C.S., principal of Vidyasagar English Public School.
Based on a complaint filed by the parent, the Chandra Layout police have registered a non-cognizable report. “We are probing the incident and planning to question a few students, teachers and management members to ascertain what happened,” said a police official.
