Students tear and throw new uniforms

They were protesting the government’s move to impose the new uniform on them and demanded that the school continue with its old dress code

Uniforms which students tore and dumped near the school in Cooch Behar on Wednesday.: Main Uddin Chisti

TT Correspondent   |   Cooch Behar   |   29.09.22 : A section of senior students at a higher secondary school near here on Wednesday tore the new white-and-blue uniforms provided by the government and threw those in the surroundings of the building.

They were protesting against the government’s move to impose the new uniform on them and demanded that the school continue with its old dress code which had been in place for over 50 years. The protest was witnessed at Manindanath High School in Khagrabari.

The torn uniforms were found hanging from the windows of classrooms or near the boundary wall of the school. The torn clothes were mostly of boys who wanted the authorities to revert to the old uniform of green trousers and white shirts. 

Girls till Class VIII were earlier wearing green tunics and white shirts. White saris with the green borders were the uniform of girls studying in higher classes. Now, blue has replaced green.

“The school was established in 1953. Since then, the students had been wearing green and white uniforms. We don’t know why the uniform’s colour was changed. Instead of the school’s badge that was put as a monogram on shirts, the Biswa Bangla logo is now. We are not ready to accept the new uniform,” said a class XI student who didn’t want to be named.

The coeducational higher secondary school has altogether 1,500 students. Assistant headmaster Biresh Roy said a probe was on. 

“We had distributed the new uniforms among students a few days ago. It is up to them to accept the new dresses or not. But what some of them did today is unacceptable. They cannot simply tear and throw away the uniforms. We are collecting details about the incident.” 

An alumnus of the school said students of any institution had huge sentiments for their uniform.

“But all of a sudden, the state government has come up with a new dress code. The monogram is yet another mark of heritage and tradition. How can we all forget them,” he said. 

Ever since the Mamata Banerjee government decided to distribute the blue-white uniform to schools, students and even former students of a number of institutions have registered their protests. They have resorted to demonstrations and have held rallies, protesting the change.

However, it is for the first time that the students have torn and dumped the uniforms. The incident has led to mixed reactions in different sections of the society.

While some teachers have termed it as an undesirable act, others have mentioned that the students have tried to pass the message that they are against the state government’s decision to introduce the same uniform in all state-run and state-aided schools across Bengal.

In Cooch Behar, protests against the new school uniform had reached such an extent that the district inspector of schools has recently served a notice to the school authorities. In the notice, he has mentioned that the authorities should see that students do not walk out during school hours and abstain from participating in protests against the uniform.“This has deterred the students but former students of a number of schools are continuing their protests. Whatever has happened today has reflected the grudge of students against the state’s decision,” said Tushar Debnath, a schoolteacher.