‘What would she do with education?’
“You can carry a sack of paddy; then why can’t you carry your daughter upstairs [to the classroom]?”
“How could you bring such a physically challenged girl to school? What would she do with education?”
These were the questions Haidar Ali, the headteacher of Monirampur Government Girls’ High School in Jashore, asked the mother of Litun Jira, the disabled girl who secured GPA-5 in the last Primary Education Completion examinations in Monirampur upazila.
Seeing her mother mistreated by the man, Litun finally took admission at Gopalpur School and College near her house.
Born to Habibur Rahman and Jahanara Begum in Sheikhpara Khanpur village in the upazila, Litun, 12, took PEC exams last year from Khanpur Government Primary School. She writes holding the pen in her mouth as she was born without any functioning limbs.
The incident of the headteacher’s misconduct took place on December 23 when Litun, in her wheel chair, took her mother to the government school for taking admission test. Her good grades in the PEC exams made her eligible for admission test at the high school.
Haidar Ali made the insulting comments in front of the young student after her mother requested for special arrangements on the ground floor of the school after finding out that Litun’s test was being held on the upper floor of the school.
Although she wanted to test her competency in the admission test at the government high school, the school’s headteacher’s shocking and degrading remarks compelled her to opt for a different school.
However, Haider Ali refuted the allegations made against him, saying that he was not sure why the girl refused to take admission test at his school.
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