TO DOUBT NO DOUBT(Juthika Bakar) Jenny’s father is a government officer. His job is very much transferable. As a result, he is to change his daughter’s school at times. Greenfield School and College is Jenny’s fourth School. Now she is a student of Std.VI.

Jenny’s parents are very caring to her. They always try to send their daughter to any good school. Before Greenfield, she went to Bay View, South Point, and Landmark. All these schools give quality education to children. As a result, Jenny came in touch with qualified teachers. She thinks of them with due respect. Her previous schoolmates were also friendly to her.

Jenny has many memories about her former schools. Among them, she has some insignificant memories too. Her little mind recalls them with sorrow in place of happiness and joy. These things happened during the time that she had been studying in Std.III at Landmark Missionary School of Chittagong. She studied at Landmark for three years from Standard I to III. There Angelica was her classmate all along. She was the daughter of her class teacher Mrs. Alexandra Biswas. Jenny guessed that Mrs. Alexandra always wanted to make her daughter first every year in the class. She used to collect short suggestions for Angelica from subject teachers. Accordingly Angelica always stood first in the class. These suggestions were supplied to other classmates sometimes. This was the clue of Angelica’s unfair means. Jenny didn’t like this as habit. Because Jenny’s father always advised her to develop fair habit and not to give attention to others wrong doing. Even he never tells her to run for the first place in the class. He always advises her to study the whole syllabus and try to answer all questions in the examination. Jenny follows this advice. But she can’t take away the doubt regarding her teacher Mrs. Alexandra from her mind.

In the meantime, practice session for annual sports of 2009 had been started in the school field. Mrs. Alexandra made the same unusual move during this time that Jenny can’t forget yet. Jenny was then in Std. III. There was an event of skipping for short girls in the sports. Jenny, Angelica, Nidhi and Anji were all then short girls in the class. There were some other short girls also from other sections. Angelica had been showing bad performance during skipping practice. However, the list of games and participants were all declared as final by the principal. But Mrs. Alexandra opposed skipping event. She went to the principal and requested him to drop this event from the sports. The Principle didn’t agree to her request. But she did not lose hope. She requested him again and again. Then the Principal asked the sports teacher to solve the problem. The sports teacher had shifted the event for tall girls in place of short girls. As a result, all short height girls became sad, but Angelica became happy. Jenny and other participants thought each of them become a target of Mrs. Alexandra regarding this event.

There was another game named IQ test on annual sports. At this event Jenny stood first, Nidhi got second position and another girl from other section held third position during hit. Angelica didn’t get any position. But in the final run, Angelica declared first and Jenny was out of position. Jenny thought that here was also something like a trick to put her down. Because she saw Mrs. Alexandra was talking to the sports teacher before the announcement.

These things were happening for all times to Jenny as she believed. During science fare, Jenny’s team received high appreciation from all judges. She hoped to get first position for her team. She saw that Angelica’s team couldn’t show performance up to the mark and got moderate impression of judges in front of them. But after declaration Jenny saw that her team got the second position, Angelica’s team went forward as first. Jenny thought that Mrs. Alexandra surely became jealous of her performance and did something wrong by editing result in the computer.

But Jenny’s parents have different opinion regarding what happened to her at Landmark school. They think that Jenny was both jealous and fearful of Angelica. Angelica was no doubt a best student in her class. Her mother Mrs. Alexandra was also a good teacher and a caring mother. She was very cooperative and helpful while Jenny had been a student of her class at Landmark. In fact, some students become fearful of being displaced by their teacher’s child. In a sense, this is good for a lively student. But doubting a teacher on moral ground is bad. Jenny’s parents made it clear to her when she expressed her grief to them. Jenny’s observation was no doubt a kind of undue doubt to her teacher. A teacher is like a parent. In fact, Mrs. Alexandra didn’t single out any student for her daughter. She did what was good for her students and the school.

However, Jenny’s father had been transferred to Dhaka at the end of 2009 in the meanwhile. She got herself admitted to Greenfield in Std. IV in January 2010. Here she has got some new friends and helpful teachers again. Among her new friends Tasmi, Afia, Dola, Karobi, Namira are very close to her. She achieved A+ in Primary School Certificate (PSC) examination last year (2011). Her present Class teacher Mrs. Shammi is also very friendly and supportive. She is so sharp that she remembers everything happening in front of her eyes. No students can trick her without preparing lessons. Her daughter Namira is also a good friend of Jenny. Jenny is no more a short girl now. She is a little more grown up than earlier. She doesn’t doubt any of her teachers for any reason nowadays.

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