Friday, March 30, 2018

Deplorable! Unpardonable! Unacceptable!

The Act.

"Homage to the Principal who has died in the hearts of the students.....a tragedy is over and the campus is getting free", said a poster in Malayalam that appeared on the walls of the Nehru Arts and Science College, Kanhangad. On 29 Mar, the students also burst crackers inside the campus to celebrate the retirement of their principal, PV Pushpaja.

This bizarre send off ceremony was happening even as an official farewell function was going on in the college, ahead of her retirement on 31 Mar.

It's a deplorable, unpardonable and unacceptable act and the culprits need to be punished without loss of time and without fear or favour.

Antecedents?

The incident reminded many of the highhandedness displayed by students against two other women principals in the recent past, which were:-

     (a) The 'symbolic funeral' SFI students had organised at the Government Victoria College,
           Palakkad, in Apr '16, to mock their principal, TN Sarasu.
     (b) The burning of the chair of NL Beena, the principal of the Maharaja's College, Ernakulam
           in Jan '17.

Pushpaja, a former student of the college, had worked as a teacher for 33 years before being elevated to the post of principal. She has paid the price for being strict in enforcing discipline within the college. She reiterates that the SFI was against her right from the start of her tenure as principal. She cites the following incidents to back her arguments:-

      (a) As per directives from the government, she'd recommended the installation of cctv cameras
            at vantage points in the college to the management. The SFI had gone on strike over the
            issue.
      (b) The students who had taken part in the strike broke open the locked conference hall of the
            college, to have a meeting. She'd reported this matter to the police and in the process,
            incurred their anger.
      (c) Attendance was disallowed to the students who'd produced bogus medical certificates to
            cover their non attendance despite the fact that they're within the premises!

A sad state of affairs!


Tailpiece.

I wonder what sort of students disrespect their teachers. Of course there are bound to be good and not-so-good teachers with respect to their teaching abilities. While taking the latter in one's stride with tuitions and extra coaching, it doesn't give liberty to the students to misbehave. One thing is for sure, a student who does not respect his teacher does not respect his parents either! And that's a negative factor in the march to achieve success in life!!




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