- Noida:In an unprecedented incident, a whole class of fourth grade students remained absent from school this Tuesday, despite it being a working day. It has come to light that the kids, around 9 years old, had planned to organise a “mass bunk” on the day, so that they could have some outing. All 39 students (18 girls, 21 boys) of class IV-K of St. Jude’s Primary School in Noida were part of the mass bunk.Teachers, meanwhile, described feeling as if they had been slapped hard with such an event. Mass bunks are a common practice in college system, but it’s unusual in primary school. The students braved the danger of Nithari Babas of Noida, and feeding banana peels to the monkeys in a nearby zoo.
Kids of the class, according to reports, had planned a mass bunk last week only. Parents and teachers were kept unaware of the plan. We caught up with a student, who told us the story on condition of anonymity, lest his classmates get angry, “Class monitor once told some of us (sic). He said about mass bunks in college and high school. We liked the idea. We said we will also do (sic).”According to the child, the students wondered whether they could also do mass bunks. Soon after, most students understood what was to be done. Few children, known as ghissus by some extrovert classmates for unknown reasons, also succumbed to the pressure and promised they wouldn’t tell their parents. One boy, known as Tom, said he would get the money from his parents for the picnic/party.During the bunk, the kids picnicked at the zoo, played rugby, danced, entertained themselves by doing rampwalks, mimicries, and cracked jokes they describe as “non-vegetarian/carnivorous”. The students discussed and tried to emulate 8-year-old comedian Saloni Daini. Few ghissus, though, played games like chidiya udi, while constantly cribbing that what they were doing was wrong.
Saloni – India’s first adult child -
a prodigy gone over-exposedThe news broke out when guards at a multiplex stopped a bunch of little kids from entering the hall to watch a U/A-rated movie at around 11 am. The children were questioned and the school principal called. It turned out that all adults were unaware, and that Tom had asked his businessman dad for money to give a party to his classmates on the occasion of Independence Day.
The school principal has declared the school shut (“mass bunk”) on account of “severe shock” to the student community. A student, who uploaded photos of the bunk on Facebook, has been asked to delete his account. Parents have been called for a meeting, where they will be invited to keep quiet and listen to counselling lectures. Union Minister Kapil Sibal has been accused for making studies so easy for students that they are getting spoilt. After this news, reports of government school teachers telling their students to do mass bunks, have surfaced.
By Tanay Sukumar
Primary school students go on mass bunk – teachers, parents shocked
– August 11, 2010Posted in: Editor's Picks: Classics, Education, Society, The News Pages
