Bangladesh suspends schoolteacher for forcing students to drink sewer water

Bangladeshi authorities have suspended a school teacher for forcing students to drink sewer water as punishment at the Gangaprasad Primary School in Zajira, nearly 100 kilometres south of Dhaka.

The schoolteacher Shahnaz Parvin was found guilty of forcing 28 students of grade IV to drink sewer water for not being able to deliver lessons at her class.

"The investigation report found her guilty and that is why we suspended her. She will be punished according to the government employees' disciplinary action and from today (August 22) she has been suspended," Rahela Rahmat Ullah, local government administrator confirmed to WION.

Authorities ordered an investigation after parents took to the school field demanding justice and suspension of the teacher. Several students fell ill after the incident, which took place on August 16.

"My teacher asked me to fetch a jug of water from the sewer. And then she fed it to the rest of the class," a student shared with a local newspaper.

Although Bangladesh banned corporal punishment in 2010 through government order, in absence of a legal prohibition and penalty, abusive punishments such as at the Gangaprasad primary school continue to happen.

"There is a lack of monitoring about whether the school authorities have really banned corporal punishment," said Shabnaaz Zahereen, child protection specialist at Unicef Bangladesh.

A draft Education Act in Bangladesh pending with the government stipulates summary trial for corporal punishment. "Although authorities are aware that there is a need [for the law], somehow it is not in the priority of the government," she said.

Despite concerns raised by pressure groups, physical reprimanding has been a widespread practice in primary schools.