Four woman teachers of a school in Kerala’s Kannur district were suspended on Tuesday for allegedly forcing students to remove their clothes, including innerwear, before writing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) on Sunday as part of the stringent measures to avoid cheating.
In a shocking incident, invigilators at the Kannur school had reportedly forced a 17-year-old girl student to remove her innerwear before appearing for the test. The Kerala Police has started looking into this matter and other similar incidents.
The management of the TISK English Medium School at Kovvapuram near Payyannur in Kannur said that it had suspended four woman teachers — Sheeja, Shahina, Shafeena and Bindu — who as invigilators for the NEET exam allegedly asked the girl, a native of Cheruvathur in Kasaragod district, to remove her bra because it had metallic hooks.
“The management has also constituted a two-member panel to look into the matter,” a school spokesman said. Several other students and parents had raised complaints about harassment by invigilators at this school and some others in the name of the CBSE-stipulated dress code, while the board said the Kannur incident was the result of over-enthusiasm on the part of the teachers.
The insult suffered by the students in the name of dress code was condemned by the Treasury and Opposition benches in the Assembly on Tuesday and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who termed the incident as cruel, uncivilised and unjustifiable, said he had already directed the police to hold an enquiry into the allegation and take appropriate action on the basis of the findings.
Replying to a submission raised by Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, the Chief Minister told the House that the actual reason behind the incident was the dress code stipulated by the CBSE. He pointed out that the invigilators’ action had put the candidates under immense psychological pressure.
Pinarayi said the State would convey to the Centre its protest against the CBSE-stipulated dress code that had resulted in the humiliation of students. Criticizing the invigilators and the CBSE for the harassment of the students, Chennithala wondered whether Dussasanas who would disrobe own sisters were acting as NEET invigilators.
The girl student told the media that the invigilators had forced her to remove her bra in front of everyone. “I asked them to allow me to remove it in the school’s toilet. But they did not allow me to do that. There was no time to go to any nearby house and therefore I had to remove it there itself. Then I handed it over to my mother who was waiting outside,” she said.
“During security check, the metal detector made a beep while passing over the metallic hooks of the innerwear. Despite my repeated appeals, they said I couldn’t appear for the test without removing the innerwear,” the girl said, adding that she had written the examination, for which she had prepared for three years, without confidence because of the experience.
The Kannur police on Tuesday registered a case in connection with the incident after recording the statement of the girl but nobody had been named as accused in the FIR. The police were reportedly a bit confused about the way the case was to be framed as the girl and her family members were not keen on making it a legal issue.
The State Human Rights Commission has already registered a case suo moto over the incident and sought reports from the regional director of the CBSE and the Kannur district police chief. It has also recommended a high-level probe. On Tuesday, various students’ organizations took protest marches to the CBSE’s office in Thiruvananthapuram.
Harassment in other forms in connection with the NEET had also been reported from Kannur. In an incident, the invigilators asked a girl to remove the pocket of her jeans because of the metallic button attached to it. “Following this, I was forced to travel several kilometers from the exam centre to buy new dress for my daughter,” her father said.