ISLAMABAD: The headmistress of a public school in Chakwal has expelled a female student after the latter got married, stating that a married student could have a negative impact on her classmates, it was learnt yesterday.
Madiha Fatima was studying at the Government Girls High School Chakwal in Class 10. Last month, she got married with her relative.
“When I submitted an application for marriage leave, it was not accepted by my teacher who is in charge of our section,” Madiha said.
As a result, she said she was forced to remain absent from her school. “When I returned to the school a few days after my marriage, I was not allowed to sit in the class,” she said.
Madiha and her mother then met the headmistress and asked her to review the decision, but the head teacher refused.
“I requested the teacher to give me the refusal in writing but she did not oblige,” Madiha said.
She said she wanted to pursue higher education, but her “dream of higher education was shattered by the teacher.”
“Is marriage a crime,” Natig Jaf fri, Madiha’s husband said. “I want my wife to acquire education but her basic right has been denied by the school administration,” he added. When contacted, the headmistress of the school, Shahnaz Begum, said: “A married girl can adversely affect the atmosphere of the school by sharing details of her marital life with her schoolmates.”
When asked under what law she had taken the decision to expel the student, she replied, “the law does not matter here; it is the behaviour which matters.”
When the attention of Executive District Officer Education Ghulam Murtaza was drawn to the issue, he said he would look into the matter.
“A student cannot be expelled from school for getting married,” he maintained. Internews
