SANGHAR: Sanghar district education officer (DEO) suffered injuries and was later hospitalised after he had a fist fight with a teacher during a surprise visit to an examination centre set up at the Government Higher Secondary School in Shah­pur Chakar on Friday.

DEO Yar Mohammad Bal­adi had a heated argument with a teacher, Khuda Bux Brohi, who was not supposed to be present at the centre and soon the charged men attacked each other. Baladi suffered injuries in the scuffle and was admitted to Peoples’ Medical University Hospital in Naw­ab­shah. He was later bro­ught to Sanghar Civil Hospi­tal.

The school’s principal Abdul Nabi Sarhandi told Dawn that the DEO had visited the school over his complaints against four teachers who had refused to obey his instructions to leave the examination centre and who were trying to interfere with smooth conduct of examination.

He said that when the DEO arrived, the four were present at the school and he told them to leave but they refused and exchanged hot words with the officer, which led to the scuffle.

Director of schools education Jalil Lashari said that it was the responsibility of int­er­nal superintendent (principal) to take steps to stop the use of unfair means at the examination centre.

The principal had complained to the DEO that the four teachers were interfering with the examination process and the officer had paid the visit to look into the complaints, he said.

He said the four teachers had been suspended by secretary of education and an inquiry committee headed by additional secretary of education had also been set up by the provincial minister of education to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, a large number of students protested against transferring examination centre from Govern­ment Degree College to Islamia College, a private institute in Shahdadpur.

They boycotted the paper and staged a sit-in outside the college, demanding relocation of the exam centre to the degree college. Later, they staged sit-in again at Hala chowk where police rounded up 10 students.

In another development, Sanghar deputy commissioner, director of education Shaheed Benazirabad and controller of the Board of Intermediate and Secon­dary Education Mirpurkhas visited Government Higher Secondary School in Garang Bunglo and suspended inter­nal, factotum, external and 11 invigilators over widespread use of unfair means at the school.

They also caught 25 students red-handed and mar­ked their answer sheets for copying.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2019