Tripura students punish teachers

In a bizarre role reversal, students of a school in Tripura taught a lesson to their teachers for bad behaviour by locking them up for a day.

In a bizarre role reversal, students of a school in Tripura taught a lesson to their teachers for bad behaviour by locking them up for a day.

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Students of a high school at village Jambura, locked up at least two dozen teachers in a classroom for an entire day before a magistrate escorted by the police rescued them.

Students took the extreme step on Wednesday, angry over the regular absence of teachers, their drunken behaviour and smoking inside classrooms.

Basir Ali, magistrate in the nearest sub-divisional headquarters in Khowai, said, “The students have reasons to be angry, as some teachers invariably come late or never attend classes at all.”

“There were charges of some teachers coming to the school drunk and some of them smoking inside classes. But such allegations could not be substantiated or proved immediately,” said Ali.

“Insurgency in Tripura has severely affected the education system in tribal dominated areas,” said Tripura education minister Keshab Mazumdar. “There are many schools where teachers and students do not attend classes regularly primarily due to threats or fear from militants,” he added.

Some 20 teachers have been killed and 35 kidnapped by rebel armies in Tripura in the past years.