This is an extract of a play that the state government wants teachers to read for controlling their anger. A move which has the potential to spark protests in the state and further vitiate the political atmosphere.

The handbook — Mental Pressure and its Reactions — released by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education to reduce pressure on teachers and improve the teacher-student relationship, has been critical of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s role on the Singur issue.

The handbook was circulated among 40 teachers at Vidyasagar Bhavan at Salt Lake on Friday at a programme which was inaugurated by the school education minister Partha De.

The pesident of the board, Mamata Roy, said that the book will be a major resource material in the training of teachers in anger management across all the districts, sub-divisions and block level. The foreword of the handbook has been written by the board president herself.

Officials of the board, however, have admitted that this is a mistake on their part.

“It would have been better had the mention of anything political could have been avoided in the handbook. However, our agenda was not to politicise the issue and the issue should not be given more prominence over effort to reduce strain in the teacher-student relationship,” said secretary of the board, Partha Roy.

After instances of corporal punishment were reported from some schools in the city, the board swung into action and prepared a handbook that will act as a resource material for training thousands of teachers all across the state.

But experts feel such political overtones might spark fresh controversy in the academic circle. The handbook has drawn flak from anti-Left teachers’ organisations who have termed it as “unnecessary politicisation of the issue”.

Meanwhile, inaugurating the programme, the minister made reference to incidents where a child died after being hit by her teacher.