St. Gerosa school incident: Suspended teacher did not hurt Hindu religious feelings: Says school
Adds management was forced by MLA Vedavyas Kamath to suspend her
Mangalore: St. Gerosa Convent School in Mangalore has issued a press statement addressing the recent incident involving Sister Prabha, who was suspended amid allegations of making derogatory remarks about the Hindu religion and the Prime Minister during a lesson on Rabindranath Tagore's poem 'Work is Worship.'
The school management provided a detailed account of the events, emphasizing that the controversy stemmed from an anonymous complaint received on February 10. The complainants accused Sister Prabha of making offensive statements, prompting the headmistress to initiate an immediate inquiry.
Sister Prabha firmly denied the allegations, and the management explained that the poem, 'Work is Worship,' was taught with specific emphasis on respecting all religions. The interpretation included the following key points:
1. Clarification that temples, churches, and mosques are physical structures, and God resides in human hearts, discouraging harm to individuals in the name of religion.
2. Encouraging respect for work and recognizing the divine in fellow human beings.
3. Highlighting that God exists within people, and everyone is a temple of God.
The school management stated unequivocally that Sister Prabha did not make derogatory remarks against any religion, including Hinduism, or the Prime Minister. A complaint was filed with the district administration against an anonymous woman whose audio message had gone viral, allegedly containing false accusations.
Officials from the education department visited the school on February 12 to inquire into the matter. Subsequently, the situation escalated with the arrival of local MLA Vedavyas Kamath and Hindutva activists, who protested outside the school premises. Despite an invitation, MLA Kamath refused to enter the school, choosing instead to incite students against their institution, the press statement issued by Sr. Anitha, the headmistress of the school asserted.
“On 12th February from the Department of Education, a Subject Inspector from BEO Office, a Co-ordinator from DDPI office, BEO, ECO and CRP visited the school for whom the truth was explained on their request.
This was followed by the arrival of local MLA Vedavyas Kamath with a group of Hindutwa activists who shouted slogans against the school. The management recognized his presence, owed him due respect and invited him inside the school, but he refused to come in but protested against the school and management. It was hurting to see that MLA who should have been a person for all, gathered the children around him and instigated them to shout slogans, against their own school. The students who were not in the class while teaching the poem, but of other classes were also made to shout slogans,” the statement added.
Under mounting pressure from the protesting crowd, MLA Kamath demanded Sister Prabha's immediate dismissal without due inquiry. To maintain law and order and disperse the gathering mob, the headmistress, Sr. Anitha, reluctantly issued a statement suspending Sister Prabha from her position. It is crucial to note that Sister Prabha has 16 years of teaching experience, with an unblemished record, including five years at Gerosa School, it added.
The school management is raising questions about the authenticity and motives of the woman in the viral audio, calling for a thorough investigation. They assert that the incident appears staged to tarnish the school's image and underscore their commitment to a secular outlook by annually celebrating Diwali, Christmas, and Eid without any form of discrimination.
“Critical point of the whole episode which needs to be looked into is - Whether the lady who spoke about the school in viral audio is actually a parent of Gerosa student. If not, what is her agenda behind making such bald allegations. If she was a parent why she did not give a written complaint to the school management about the issue.
“It appears that the incident/ protest was stage managed to tarnish the image of school, which has been imparting quality education with minimum fees. We being secular in our outlook always respect all students and do not discriminate anyone on the basis of caste, creed and religion. Every year we celebrate Deepavali, Christmas and Eid.” It added.
The press statement concludes by acknowledging that media personnel were not allowed inside the Gerosa premises during the incident.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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