Boy rusticated for 'not bringing compost'

SURKHET, July 10: Fifteen-year-old Madhur Khadka of Hurre, Surkhet, has not attended school for the last two weeks. Recently rusticated from his school, he is found grazing cattle these days.



"I was rusticated two weeks ago. Since then I have been doing household works and grazing cattle," Khadka said. "I wish I could go to school and continue my studies but the headmaster would not allow me," he added. [break]



Two weeks ago Nepal Rastriya Secondary School in Maintada had ordered its students to bring compost fertilizer for the school garden. However, the eighth grader Khadka and several other students did not follow the instruction.



According to Khadka, the headmaster Shiva Junga Bali and other teachers started beating the students brutally. "Maths teacher Lalit Gharti severely thrashed us," he said. "Then we were made to squat in hen position for 25 minutes and made to walk about on the ground for a long time," he narrated.



Khadka added that he could not tolerate the ´high handedness of the teachers´ and went on to file complaint against them at the police station. "Next day when I went to school, the headmaster all of a sudden attacked me. I collapsed and upon regaining consciousness found rustication letter on my hand."



Following the incident, a team of child rights activists reached the school the next day. The district education officer Purushottam Kunwar has said his office would probe the incident.



Meanwhile, headmaster Bali is simply not ready to lift the rustication on Khadka. "He has breached school discipline. We cannot take him back," he said.

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