Dhaka Bureau: Draft policy has been prepared to prevent various harassing behavior of students in the name of ragging in educational institutions. Among other punishments for those accused of ragging are directions for temporary or permanent expulsion. Ragging includes name-calling, lewd gestures, harassment, emotional pressure, neglect or avoidance and defamation. The Ministry of Education has stated that the ‘Educational Institution Bullying or Ragging Prevention Policy-2023’ will be applicable to public and private educational institutions across the country.
Ragging can be done by teachers and parents in addition to students, the policy states. Ragging can be physical or emotional, individual or group. Nowadays, social bullying, cyber bullying, sexual bullying or racial bullying have become extreme in educational institutions. This results in a long-term negative impact on the educational life of the students. In this, students suffer from depression, irritability and inferiority complex. In most cases the victims are weak students.
According to the policy, members of the governing body, ad hoc committee or managing committee can be terminated if they are involved in ragging. If teachers-officers-employees are involved, there are instructions for temporary or permanent expulsion along with cancellation of MPO membership. Similarly, the punishment of expulsion has been kept for the students as well. According to the seriousness of the incident, law enforcement agencies should be informed to take action.
According to the policy regarding the formation of anti-ragging committee in every educational institution, the members of the committee will monitor the matter through regular meetings. The report should be sent to the concerned department. The directorate will send recommendations to the Ministry of Education to take action as per the rules. A seminar or workshop should be organized once every six months with the students of educational institutions on transition from ragging. A few teachers of the institution should be trained to perform their duties as ‘psychologists’.
