The Uttar Pradesh Education Department has ordered the closure of the private school in Muzaffarnagar district, where earlier this week a teacher asked students to slap a fellow Muslim classmate, amid pending inquiry and non-availability of required recognition. The department has said the students studying in the school will be shifted to other nearby private schools.
A video of the incident surfaced online on Friday, August 25, in which the teacher was seen asking students to slap a Muslim child. The incident took place on August 24 at Neha Public School, located in Khubbapur village under the jurisdiction of Mansurpur police station.
An investigation was launched by the department into the matter after the video went viral on social media. In the probe, it was found that recognition of the school ended a year ago. Basic Education Officer Shubham Shukla said that in 2019, the school has taken recognition to run classes from nursery to five. The recognition was provided provisionally for three years, which ended in 2022. Subsequently, the school management had to get the recognition renewed, but it was not done. Orders have been given to close the school operating without recognition. Further action is being taken, he added.
Police are also probing into the matter. "We are in the process of recording statements of the victim, his parents and the school teacher. If anyone is found guilty we will take action against them," a senior police official said.
The father of the boy, in an earlier statement, had said that they have sorted out the matter after talking with the school authorities and will not press charges against the school. "The school has returned the fees and we will not send our child to that school," the father of the victim had said.