Schools dole out violence, leave children scarred
Corporal punishment in Madhya Pradesh’s schools is on the rise. Teachers have turned on their students, punching and beating them, even fatally at times. It is also observed that many school managements try to hide such incidents in order to evade action. Moreover, the school education department is not making any concerted effort to stop such brutalities.
Within just a month, the state has reported three major incidents of merciless beating. A teacher punched a Class V student of a primary school, Premlata, so badly, that she died in hospital a few days later. Premlata’s fault? She answered a question incorrectly. She was admitted to hospital with severe concussions. She succumbed to her injuries three days later. The dust hadn’t yet settled on the Premlata tragedy when another sordid incident emerged, this time in Bhopal’s Saraswati Vidya Mandir School. According to reports, a delicate upper KG student, Anmol Kushwaha, misspelt a word in class. His teacher got so enraged that he broke his bones. Anmol’s injuries were so severe that doctors had to operate on him. It is no consolation that under extreme pressure the school management offered to foot the hospital bill.
In the industrial town of Jabalpur, prayer turned into a nightmare for a Class IX student. A teacher beat Mudit Tiwari with a bench slab for a minor transgression during a prayer meeting and fractured his hands. Mudit’s fault? He says he was asking a fellow student to “stand properly in line during prayer.” His teacher picked up a bench slab and beat him till his hands broke. According to Asif Shek, secretary of Jan Sahas, an NGO: “Physical punishment is now a crime, but students are badly hit by the teachers for every small mistake in the name of discipline. Incidents of fractures and even accidental deaths due to corporal punishments are occurring repeatedly.” According to a survey conducted by the women & child welfare department, about 65% of schools in the state take recourse to physical punishment to enforce discipline among students.
The president of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Shanta Sinha, says: “Schools should be safe zones for students and the teachers responsible should be suspended. Authorities should investigate the matter quickly and take action.”
NCPCP has stressed the need to strengthen the time-tested parent-teacher association (PTA) system to ensure swift action against the erring teachers. In fact, about ten states have also submitted a list of measures to the commission, seeking to prevent and control incidents of such punishment at school.
Madhya Pradesh, however, is gaining the dubious distinction of reporting a rise in the number of such cases.
Corporal punishment in Madhya Pradesh’s schools is on the rise. Teachers have turned on their students, punching and beating them, even fatally at times. It is also observed that many school managements try to hide such incidents in order to evade action. Moreover, the school education department is not making any concerted effort to stop such brutalities.
Within just a month, the state has reported three major incidents of merciless beating. A teacher punched a Class V student of a primary school, Premlata, so badly, that she died in hospital a few days later. Premlata’s fault? She answered a question incorrectly. She was admitted to hospital with severe concussions. She succumbed to her injuries three days later. The dust hadn’t yet settled on the Premlata tragedy when another sordid incident emerged, this time in Bhopal’s Saraswati Vidya Mandir School. According to reports, a delicate upper KG student, Anmol Kushwaha, misspelt a word in class. His teacher got so enraged that he broke his bones. Anmol’s injuries were so severe that doctors had to operate on him. It is no consolation that under extreme pressure the school management offered to foot the hospital bill.
In the industrial town of Jabalpur, prayer turned into a nightmare for a Class IX student. A teacher beat Mudit Tiwari with a bench slab for a minor transgression during a prayer meeting and fractured his hands. Mudit’s fault? He says he was asking a fellow student to “stand properly in line during prayer.” His teacher picked up a bench slab and beat him till his hands broke. According to Asif Shek, secretary of Jan Sahas, an NGO: “Physical punishment is now a crime, but students are badly hit by the teachers for every small mistake in the name of discipline. Incidents of fractures and even accidental deaths due to corporal punishments are occurring repeatedly.” According to a survey conducted by the women & child welfare department, about 65% of schools in the state take recourse to physical punishment to enforce discipline among students.
The president of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Shanta Sinha, says: “Schools should be safe zones for students and the teachers responsible should be suspended. Authorities should investigate the matter quickly and take action.”
NCPCP has stressed the need to strengthen the time-tested parent-teacher association (PTA) system to ensure swift action against the erring teachers. In fact, about ten states have also submitted a list of measures to the commission, seeking to prevent and control incidents of such punishment at school.
Madhya Pradesh, however, is gaining the dubious distinction of reporting a rise in the number of such cases.
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