School inspection
I felt drawn to the letter captioned 'school inspection' by Shahabuddin Mahtab that appeared recently (July 26) in your daily. It was evocative of the olden days when visits to schools by public leaders or high-ups of administration were special days in school calendars, and for good reasons.
Relevantly, the visit of the Chief Minister of Bengal, Sher-e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Huq and Cabinet Minister H.S. Suhrawardy to the Gopalganj Mission School where Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a student is worth recalling. As the two distinguished visitors were departing after the visit, their passage was blocked by some students of the school. The teenage student Sheikh Mujibur Rahman told the visitors that the students were unable to attend their classes as rainwater leaked through the cracked roof. The visitors were much impressed by the courage of the student. Chief Minister Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Huq assured financial grant to the school for repair of the damaged roof.
On a much lighter note though, here is an episode concerning a visit of the British district magistrate to a school at Sirajganj. It was early thirties, the heyday of the British Raj. The Sirajganj High School authorities were obviously all alert to receive the visitor. After visiting some other classes, the district magistrate entered the classroom where the narrator of the story AQS Wares Ally was a student. The District Magistrate wanted to know from the students seated in front rows what they would like to become in their future lives. As appeared, all the respondent students aspired for becoming doctors, engineers, judges, administrators and the like. The district magistrate seemed rather pleased with their answers. He then asked a back-bencher, the narrator-student what he would like to become in the future life. He unhesitatingly said, 'Sir, I would like to become a minister.' The district magistrate was taken aback. He wanted to know why he wasn't aiming for jobs like his peers. The student replied, 'Sir, I am not as bright as my fellow classmates.' The district magistrate kept quite for some time, and a little later left the school. May be he had some food for thought for the day.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments