Parents of first-grade girl students who were forced to remove leggings because ‘they didn’t match with the school uniform colours’ have filed a police complaint against the private missionary school in Bolpur. As per reports, a number of girl students in the English medium missionary school were forced to remove their leggings because they were not part of the school uniform and the colours did not conform to the uniform colours either.
The incident took place on Monday. The parents say that the girls had worn leggings underneath their uniform because the weather has started getting colder. A parent of a girl child alleged that when she returned home from school, she was not wearing her leggings. Upon inquiry, he found out that the teacher got them removed during recess. He alleged that the school teachers did that on instructions of the school principal.
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Free Press Journal reported another father’s demand that the school principal should resign. He is quoted to have said,”I was shocked to see my child coming out of the school without her leggings. She did not have an underwear. This is outrageous. The head mistress should resign.”
As reported by Mumbai Mirror, Jaher Ali Mondal, a senior teacher said that the leggings violated the dress code but insisted that no one was forced to remove the leggings. Jaher Ali Mondal said that the students have been instructed not to wear the leggings again. School headmistress Archana Fernandes said that the parents have been warned in the past not to make their daughters wear leggings as they are not part of the uniform. Refuting the allegations of forceful removal of leggings, she said that despite having tendered apology, she could not understand why the parents were agitating.
Meanwhile, a police complaint was filed in the Shantiniketan Police Station on Monday. Ananya Chakraborty, West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights said that the incident was deplorable and an inquiry will be made. State Education Minister Partho Chattopadhyay has also sought report on the matter.
