Teacher assault finger at Trinamul leader

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

TV footage shows an agitator slapping Jadavpur Vidyapeeth headmaster Rajendranath Mondal on Saturday

Calcutta, Dec. 17: A Trinamul Congress councillor was accused of leading and instigating a mob that assaulted a headmaster and several teachers at Jadavpur Vidyapeeth today to protest the school's decision to admit students to Class V following a draw of lots.

Around 500 people led by Tapan Dasgupta, the Trinamul councillor of ward number 95, forcibly entered the premises, ransacked the headmaster's chamber and beat up students and teachers.

The crowd — many of them guardians of the students of a primary school run from the Vidyapeeth premises — had gathered in front of the school in the morning to protest the authorities' decision to admit Class IV students of the primary unit only through an entrance test or through lottery. They demanded that the authorities admit the 100 students directly.

"They broke chairs and tables and beat up our headmaster. They threatened to assault the women teachers," said a lady teacher who suffered injuries and was taken to hospital. At least eight teachers and staff members were taken to Baghajatin State General Hospital, where they were given first-aid.

"Some of the agitators flung a table at me. I suffered an injury on my waist and still cannot walk properly," the lady said.

"Dasgupta and other local Trinamul leaders ransacked the school for more than three hours. Outsiders, particularly political leaders, have no authority to dictate the school managing committee on an important matter like admission procedure," another teacher said.

Headmaster Rajendranath Mondal said a complaint had been lodged with Jadavpur police station.

Several calls to councillor Dasgupta's cellphone went unanswered. But Trinamul sources said they "had to intervene" as the authorities were "harassing" the guardians for a month. The sources said admission through tests or lots was "unfair" as the guardians had not been informed of such procedures when they admitted their wards to Class I.

Several guardians of students who have passed the Class IV final exam from the primary school have been demanding for the past month that all the 100 pupils get direct admission to Jadavpur Vidyapeeth. They said their children should not be made to sit for a fresh entrance test for admission to Class V in Jadavpur Vidyapeeth.

The agitators cited a government circular that states that Class IV students of any government-aided primary school should not be made to go through a fresh entrance test for admission to Class V in a government-aided secondary school if both institutions are located on the same premises.

Although Jadavpur Vidyapeeth and the primary school are located on the same premises, the former is government-aided while the latter is run privately by the National Council of Education.

The Jadavpur Vidyapeeth authorities have refused to accept the guardians' demands, saying the school needed to get a clarification from the government on whether the circular applies to it.

"We tried to explain to the agitators that we had sought an appointment with school education department officials on Monday to clear our doubt. But the agitators were adamant and assaulted me and the other staff members for no reason," Mondal said.

"We have no problems in directly admitting all 100 students to Class V if we get the clearance from the education department," he added.