Students and teachers of nine schools of Chittagong city yesterday demanded bringing back a safe educational environment, which is be being impaired by the ongoing blockade and hartals.
In making this demand, they formed separate human chains, from 10:00am till 11:00am, in front of their respective schools – Government Muslim High School, Chittagong Collegiate School, Chittagong Government High School, Nasirabad Government Boys High School, Dr Khastogir Government Girls High School, Hazi Muhammad Mohsin Government High School, Chittagong Government Girls High School, Bakalia Government High School, and City Government Girls High School.
Holding placards stating “We do not want to be burnt in petrol,” “We want safety on the way to school,” and other similar messages, the students of Nasirabad Government Boys High School said the nonstop blockade and hartal have severely disrupted their day to day lives as well as their education. The school teachers and students said they have suffered the worst in this political violence.
The students of Chittagong Government Girls High School, holding posters on which statements such as “We want to go to school safely,” “We want to sit in exams safely,” and other similar statements were written, said they were worried about the SSC examination, and other school and public examinations, due to the current situation in the nation.
The female students said their commute to school is risky, due to the sudden political violence by miscreants, and the political movement has turned into a curse for them.
Nasirabad Government Boys High School teacher, Majibur Rahman, also the secretary general of Bangladesh Government Secondary Assistant Teachers Association, said the presence of students in schools was 40%-50% in the first month of this year as students could not attend, fearing attack during hartal and blockade hours.
“The blockade and hartal are wasting the precious time of both students and teachers, and negatively impacting our educational system,” he said, adding guardians and students are worried about the SSC exam schedule due to the ongoing political movement.
“This situation cannot continue. We want to see it end. We want proper educational environment,” he added.