Headmistress suspended over boundary wall, students of UP govt school boycott classes

The middle school at Saidpur Nibaula in Asmoli block is for classes VI to VIII, and has 81 students enrolled. Assistant Teacher Deepti Yadav, who was the headmistress (in charge), was suspended on Tuesday by the district education department.

Only five and 12 students came to attend classes on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Naresh Kumar, whose wife Raj Bala is the Saidpur Nibaula pradhan, said, “The issue is that during the rainy season every year, water from the nearby lake collects on the school premises. For one week this year, classes couldn’t be held because of the stagnant water. I had informed the Block Education Officer about this, and he told me to get a boundary wall constructed. One month ago, I started construction of the boundary wall. BEO Sultan Ahmad said that I should get his office, which is next to the school, also within the new boundary wall. I refused this. He got the construction of the boundary wall stopped.

He alleged: “Over this issue, the BEO got the headmistress suspended. Since the suspension, the students of the school have stopped attending classes, demanding the suspension be revoked. The BEO took out his anger on the teacher because I refused to get his office within the boundary wall.”

Speaking over the phone, Deepti Yadav said, “I was accused of getting the boundary wall constructed. This is wrong. It was done by the panchayat head with funds for the village development. I was handed over my suspension letter on Tuesday. I have been teaching at the school for eight years, and suddenly, I am suspended over false allegations. Despite me doing good work at the school, I have been suspended which is a form of mental harassment.”

Kumar said that Yadav worked so hard that in the last eight years the school saw a transformation. “She would treat the children like family, and would often pay for things from her own pocket. The school has all the 19 requirements that a government middle school should have. All this happened in the last few years under her.”

Assistant Teacher Sanjeev Kumar, who replaced Yadav on Wednesday, told The Indian Express that only 12 students came to school on Thursday because they felt their headmistress was “wrongfully suspended”.

“I was told on Wednesday that the teacher has been suspended and that I have to fill in for her. I will try that the education of the students is not hindered. On Wednesday, only five students out of the 81 enrolled at the school, came. Today (Thursday), only 12 students came to school,” he said.

“I am talking to parents about sending their children back to school. The children are quite attached to the teacher. The students are saying that the suspension is wrong, and that it should be revoked. The children are saying that their madam has been wrongfully suspended,” added Kumar.

Speaking to mediapersons on Thursday afternoon at the school, some students who were at the school, said they didn’t want to attend but had to come on the insistence of the new teacher. “We will only study here when our madam is brought back. Otherwise, we will get admission somewhere else,” said a student of class VI.

When contacted, Sambhal Basic Shiksha Adhikdari Chandrashekhar said, “I got a report from BEO Sultan Ahmad, which said a boundary wall was constructed to improve the school campus. The boundary wall was not needed as the school already had one. Within the existing boundary wall, a new one was built so that no inspection could be done. This is against the rules. The construction was done after the teacher corresponded with the village head.”

BEO Sultan Ahmad said, “Firstly, with the coordination of multiple departments, we were getting work done to ensure that water doesn’t stagnate on the premises from next rainy season. Since the school and the block resources office, where the BEO sits, are on a low-lying parcel of land, we were getting filled the portion with mud. The teacher who was suspended didn’t like to be supervised by anyone, hence she got a separate boundary wall constructed with the help of the panchayat during the Diwali break when no was coming to the office. The pradhan and the teacher hid facts from us, which shows it was done with a malafide intention.”