A few seconds of walking to the tune of

Sraboner Megh Gulo  turned primary school headteacher Beauty Rani Paul into a widely discussed figure on social media. Months later, amid the criticism and public debate surrounding that video, she has earned a very different kind of attention  being named one of Sylhet district’s best teachers for 2026.

Beauty, headteacher of Pithaitikor Government Primary School in Fenchuganj upazila, was selected at the district level along with three other teachers.

Sylhet District Primary Education Officer Sakhawat Ershad confirmed the selection. The information of the selected teachers was sent to the divisional primary education office through an official memorandum signed by him on September 21.

Education officials said the latest recognition was not based on her social media popularity. Her long teaching career, teaching methods, school management, involvement in student activities and participation in co-curricular programmes were among the areas assessed under the prescribed criteria.

The selection process begins at the upazila level and proceeds to the district and divisional levels, officials said.

But Beauty’s journey to the latest recognition has been far from ordinary.

On July 23, she posted a short video on Facebook showing herself walking around the school compound while the popular song “Sraboner Megh Gulo” played in the background. The video quickly spread across social media, followed by trolling, criticism and heated discussion.

The controversy eventually grew beyond the video itself. Teachers, writers, cultural figures and people from different professions expressed support for Beauty and raised questions about personal freedom and creative expression. Teachers from different parts of the country later posted videos using the same song in a symbolic show of solidarity.

As the criticism intensified, Beauty filed a general diary with Fenchuganj Police Station. She later expressed gratitude to people across the country, her family and journalists for standing beside her during the difficult period.

For Beauty, the latest recognition is also not her first major achievement.

She was previously selected as Sylhet district’s best headteacher under the National Primary Education Award 2023. She is also a former student of the Department of English at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.

Her professional record, officials said, remained the basis for the latest honour despite the social media controversy.

The story has therefore taken an unexpected turn. A video that brought her trolling and criticism also placed her at the centre of a nationwide discussion about teachers, personal expression and social-media behaviour. The support she received from fellow teachers and others helped keep that discussion alive.

Now, with another district-level recognition for her work as an educator, Beauty Rani Paul’s story has moved beyond a viral social-media moment — becoming a story of a teacher continuing her professional journey amid intense public scrutiny.

The other teachers selected at the district level this year are Jamal Uddin Lasker, headteacher of Jahiria Government Primary School in Sylhet Sadar upazila; Nurjahan Begum, headteacher of Adampur Government Primary School in Osmaninagar upazila; and Adori Rani Das, assistant teacher of Chowdhurybazar Government Primary School in Golapganj upazila.