Parents of some class one girl students of a private school in Bengal’s Birbhum district started an agitation on Monday after the authorities allegedly forced the children to take off leggings they had worn to beat the cold.
The school is located in Bolpur where temperature has already dropped by a few degrees.
Leggings are not part of the school’s dress code and parents were warned repeatedly, said the school authorities even as they apologized for the incident. Some of the parents complained that their children were not wearing underwear beneath the leggings and the alleged act by the school tantamount to shaming them and outraging their modesty.
A police complaint was lodged against the school at Shantiniketan police station on Monday. Ananya Chakraborty, chairperson of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said, “The incident is deplorable. We will conduct an inquiry.”
“The parents were warned many times in the past when children wore dresses that are not approved by our dress code. But the allegation that the children were stripped is incorrect. We have tendered our apology. I cannot understand why the parents are still agitating,” said Archana Fernandes, the school’s head mistress. “I will talk to the teachers,” she added.
“We have received a complaint. We talked to the teachers as well as the parents. We are looking into the matter,” said Abhisek Roy, sub-divisional police officer, Bolpur.
{{/usCountry}}“We have received a complaint. We talked to the teachers as well as the parents. We are looking into the matter,” said Abhisek Roy, sub-divisional police officer, Bolpur.
{{/usCountry}}“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,” said the father of a child.