|
The failed students who had gheraoed the teachers of Bijoy Krishna College in Howrah on Thursday did so again on Friday despite being allowed to write supplementary tests.
The students kept teacher-in-charge Rina Sengupta and other teachers confined in the college compound from 4pm to 7pm — again with alleged Trinamul support — demanding that they be allowed to write the Part II examination without clearing any qualifying test.
The qualifying examination was taken by 1,100 students, out of which 81 had failed. About 30 of the failed students laid siege to Sengupta’s room for five hours from 11.30am on Thursday.
On Friday, the college’s academic council resolved to hold supplementary examinations for the failed candidates, some of whom had alleged anomalies in evaluation.
“Forty-eight students had written to me seeking retest. The council, however, agreed to hold the retest for all 81 students. But when we put up a notice after the meeting, only six students agreed to the retest,” said Sengupta.
The rest of the students and some guardians stationed themselves outside the gate of the college near Howrah Maidan, not allowing the teachers to go home. Members of the district Trinamul Congress Chhatra Parishad were seen echoing the students and making a human chain to prevent teachers from leaving.
Earlier in the day, the district president of Trinamul Chhatra Parishad, Anupam Ghose, who allegedly oversaw the agitation from outside the compound on Thursday, said the stand-off was resolved as the authorities had agreed to retest. “Students will write the retest, to be held by the college authorities late this month,” said Ghose.
But his supporters sang a different tune. “We will not write the retest. They might detain us again. We will not accept anything except automatic promotion and we will not let the teachers leave the campus till our demand is met,” said Moumita Maity, a BA second-year student who claimed to be a Trinamul supporter.
Around 7pm, woman police officers escorted the teachers out of the campus through the student cordon.
The Trinamul students’ outfit egged on the students to carry on with the siege, alleged teachers. “It was a rerun of what had happened at a Santoshpur school last December,” said a teacher.
At Santoshpur Rishi Aurobindo Balika Vidyapith, 27 students ghearoed teachers for 25 hours to push for automatic promotion despite failing the Class XII test. Shanku Deb Panda, the state president of Trinamul Chhatra Parishad, had allegedly egged on the school students.
The agitating students at the Howrah college later lodged a complaint against Sengupta with Howrah police station, alleging that her misbehaviour with a student prompted her to commit suicide on February 19. Sengupta denied the charge.
|
