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| Avital Weinberg-Shoshan (photo via Yedioth Ahronoth) |
An Orthodox Jewish woman is angry after her professor disqualified her for breastfeeding her son during class, according to a report by Yedioth Ahronoth.
Avital Weinberg-Shoshan, is looking forward to work as a social worker.
She is studying for a bachelor's degree in social work at the Ariel University in the Israeli city of Ariel.
While working hard towards her goal, Avital Weinberg-Shoshan, gave birth to a son. The university has a nursery to care for the babies.
During one of her courses Weinberg-Shoshan heard her baby crying, so she went out of class for 20 minutes to nurse the child.
"I did not want to leave in the middle of a class, but I could not remain seated when my son was hungry," she said.
However, when she returned to class, her professor told her that the next time she leaves in the middle of a class it will be counted as if she was absent.
The mother then told the professor that she left to breastfeed her son.
“That's my right as a student who just gave birth,” Weinberg-Shoshan told the professor.
The professor replied that she did not care why the woman left, and that she can find a milk alternative to nursing.
After that discussion, the professor listed her as absent.
With that absence, Weinberg-Shoshan went over the limit of permitted absences for the semester.
Some of the woman’s absent days included those she had taken while at risk during pregnancy.
These absences will force Weinberg-Shoshan to retake all the courses from the beginning, including the work she has already done.
This courses must be completed before she can move forward with her bachelor's degree.
Weinberg-Shoshan said that despite living an hour away from the college, and the difficulty of raising her son, she made an effort to meet all the requirements.
"It's not reasonable that just because I went to feed my baby, I’m disqualified," Weinberg-Shoshan said.
An Ariel University spokesperson said that upon returning from maternity leave, Weinberg-Shoshan showed a pattern of behavior of significant tardiness and leaving in the middle of class.
“The university is unable to allow the student to become a social worker if found to be significantly absent from the main courses of the program," the spokesperson said.