Segregation case: NDMC suspends school in-charge; act was unpardonable says Commissioner

The head of an NDMC-run school in Wazirabad was suspended Wednesday for "segregating students" into Hindu and Muslim sections, the Commissioner of the civic body said here, while denouncing his action as "unimaginable" and "unpardonable".

"I was apprised of the allegations by our officials. We decided to probe the accusations, and unfortunately they were found to be true. We have suspended the head of the school with immediate effect and initiated major penalty charge sheet against him," North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) Commissioner Madhup Vyas told PTI.

The Commissioner said the conduct of the official was "bizarre" and "unpardonable" and "goes against the grain of our pluralistic society".

"During our probe, it was found that it was school-in-charge only, who had initiated this segregation. These are children coming from poor background and such acts would have deleterious effects on them. We will not tolerate such things, it is unpardonable," he said.

The primary school falls in Wazirabad area of north Delhi and is administered by the NDMC. The area comes under the Civil Lines Zone of the civic body.

All municipal corporation-run schools in Delhi are primary schools. Teachers in other municipal schools expressed shock over it.

"Schools, primary level no less, should be kept away from politics, and religion and caste matters should not be mentioned, for a balanced growth of a child. When a student enters a school, he or she is not a Hindu, Muslim or Sikh or Christian, but an Indian and that is how we should educate them," a teacher in a civic school in Karol Bagh said, on condition of anonymity.

"If the segregation is being done there, then it is condemnable, and we strongly disapprove of it. Schools should unite and not divide people, and these children are such impressionable minds, it will not bode well for their growth," he said.