A year ago, *Subash, then a 17-year-old first-year arts student in one of the city’s reputable colleges, was part of a group which was caught for breaking windows of a bus. After serving detention for a few days in a government observation home, he went back to college. However, when he entered his classroom, he was severely reprimanded and insulted by his professors, who refused to admit him, citing his not paying the term fee. Subash, the first in his family to receive an education, went home depressed.
In the meantime, the Chennai Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) issued notices and summoned the college principal and others. Then they agreed to admit him. This time, however, Subash refused to go. “I was scared they would insult me again, especially my seniors. They treated me like I was a criminal,” he said. Subash, now helps his uncle, a cobbler, with his work in north Madras.
“I am planning to apply in another college this year. I hope I get in there,” he said.
Board officials say they had to intervene in at least 20 such cases last year, where the teenager was denied re-admission in educational institutions. While most of them get admitted to Industrial Training Institutes, some of them do not permit students to join despite orders from the JJB.
“They feel that the boy is a criminal by nature; that is the common perception,” said a member from the Board.
The member cited another incident where a 14-year-old boy was not allowed to sit for his SSLC examination a day before it began. “They refused to give him the hall ticket citing his past conduct even after the case was solved,” said the member. Luckily, due to timely intervention from both the Board and the Education Department, the boy was allowed to write the exam, and he passed with good marks.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 states that based on the the conduct and behaviour of the child, the Board may send the child to a place of safety and may, in addition, pass orders to permit him or her to attend school or vocational training centres amongst others.
‘Can’t reject Board order’
“It is their right to go to school which cannot be denied unless the child has caused trouble within its campus,” said another member. “Especially when the Board has passed the order, institutions have to accept it. Schools must pay attention to help the child instead of sending him or her away,” the member said. Another member pointed out that around 5% of these juveniles end up becoming repeat offenders, mainly owing to peer pressure and addictive habits.
Officials from the Department of School Education were unavailable for comment.
Child welfare experts pointed out that there was a need have regular counselling for the children and the teachers of institutions to ensure that the child does not go back to committing offences.
“If a child is scared to go back, it must be counselled and so must be the teachers. It is very important to make the environment child friendly,” pointed out R. Vidyasagar, former child protection specialist, UNICEF. While it is the probationary officer who is required to follow up and submit regular reports on the child, a member pointed out that the existing three officers and the recently appointed Legal Probationary Officer in the city are already overburdened, and that they are working on involving NGOs in the process.
“Of the 400 odd cases that come to us every year, there are easily around 600 juveniles involved, who need to supervised. We need extra hands to ensure the welfare of the children,” said a member.
