4 students, 2 teachers hurt as ceiling chunks fall in classroom

Two teachers and four students were injured as chunks of ceiling plaster fell on them in a classroom of a government primary school in Brahmanbaria’s Nabinagar upazila today.

Three of the injured -- Fazlul Haque, Jahidul Hasan and Limon Miah -- are first grader students while Mita Akter is second-grader. The injured teachers are assistant teachers Jebunnesa Kabir and Dilruba Begum.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

All the injured took primary treatment at a local clinic, our local correspondent reports.

The incident took place at Fatehpur Uttar Government Primary School in Nabinagar Paschim union of the upazila.

Photo: Star

According to the victims, the authorities concerned were informed when similar incident took place one year back, but they did not take any pre-cautionary measures and even students were not shifted to any safe place.

Rashida Akter, headmaster of the school, said that the school building, which was established in 1937, has been dilapidated though it was reconstructed in 1995.  

The Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED) built another building of two rooms in 2008 where classes of fourth and fifth grader students were accommodated, the headmaster said.

“As a result, we are bound to accommodate students of class-I, II and III to the dilapidated building taking risk,” she added.

Moni Rani Shill, a senior teacher of the school said, “I have been taking classes for the last 15 years through a terrible condition and very often I see plaster falling off the building”.

“On April 28 last year, similar incident took place here during an examination and we repeatedly informed the authority concerned,” the teacher told our local correspondent. 

Contacted, Nabinagar Upazila Primary Education Officer Sharif Rafiqul Islam said, “We sent a list of all the dilapidated school buildings to the authorities concerned one year ago and they are yet to respond.”