Higher secondary students of the Corporation Higher Secondary School at Siddhapudur in the city held a demonstration in front of the school on Monday alleging that they were discriminated against caste by teachers, and headmistress of the school.
The students alleged that a series of such incidents occurred in the last few days forced them to take to streets.
They said that Kavitha, a teacher, advised a student belonging to a backward community not to mingle with another student, a Dalit, on November 3.
The students said that they continued to be good friends despite the teacher’s advice. The boys added that the headmistress too made derogatory remarks of Dalit students, pin pointing that their parents were conservancy workers who cleared garbage from the street, and that their parents should be made to clean the school too.
The police promised to take action if the students preferred a complaint.
But the boys did not lodge a complaint. Later in the day, the SFI staged a demonstration in front of the school, seeking action against those who tried to kindle caste sentiments in young minds.
Sources in the education wing in the Coimbatore Corporation said that Ms. Kavitha, who taught history in Plus-Two did not abuse the boys. She had told the boys that their academic performance would improve only if the company they kept was right.
The boys were never attentive in classes, failed to carry textbooks and note books to class, and their academic performance was below par. On Monday, a few Plus-Two students tried to walk out of the class, but the teachers asked the students not to do so.
There was no further problems, the sources added.
