Srinagar, August 23: At a time when the J&K Government is beating the drum of Right to Education and coming up with schemes and policies to rope in more children towards schooling, authorities  at a Middle School in South Kashmir’s Islamabad (Anantnag) district has terminated a student for smoking in the school premises. Legal experts, meanwhile, say the punishment is ‘too harsh’ to go by.
 Manzoor Ahmad Mochi, a student of class 7th at Middle School Budroo, has been recently dismissed. Irked by the action from school authorities, the residents of Budroo have written a letter to the Director School Education and Deputy Commissioner Anantnag (Islamabad) to apprise them about the matter. The villagers allege that it is “personal vendetta” due to which Mochi was being punished.
  “Manzoor belongs to a very poor family. His dismissal is grave injustice with him and his family. It will mar his career once for all. The school authorities should have counseled him rather than dismissing him from the school,” the letter reads. “It is purely personnel vendetta of the headmistress and the teacher concerned”.
 The school authorities under order no WWWW/M/S/2012 dated 01/13/2012 have restricted Manzoor on the allegations of smoking in the school premises.
 The residents of Budroo have sought apology from the school authorities and urged them to reinstate Manzoor.
 While many observers say Manzoor required counseling or any minor punishment, legal experts call the termination move against the spirit of Right to Education Act. “It does not anyway commensurate with the act by the student,” said a Srinagar-based lawyer. “The school authorities have acted hurriedly. First they should have warned him. Second they should have called his parents and/or imposed a fine on him. But they have acted in haste.”
 When contacted, the Director School Education, Muhammad Shafi Rather, said: “It should not have happened. It is a harsh punishment. It is not acceptable at all. Still I will look into the matter.”

Lastupdate on : Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 23 Aug 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 24 Aug 2012 00:00:00 IST