Do away with corporal punishment, schools told

Section 17 of Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 prohibits teachers from resorting to corporal punishment

Following the recent incidents of students being subjected to corporal punishment both in Government and private schools, reported in the district, the district education officials had instructed school heads to ensure that teachers do not resort to corporal punishment in any form.

S. Gopidoss, Inspector of Matriculation Schools, Coimbatore, said in a meeting of school heads scheduled on the Monday that they would be instructed to take necessary measures to make sure that such incidents did no occur.

He said that the school heads and managements were already aware of the government order and section 17 of Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, prohibiting teachers from resorting to corporal punishment.

According to RTE Act, ‘No child shall be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment’ and ‘whoever contravenes this provision shall be liable to disciplinary action under the service rules applicable to such person’.

“At last one case of corporal punishment is brought to the associations’ attention every week. Only a few cases are brought to the light; many parents fear that their children will be subjected to further harassment and keep quiet,” said R. Manimohan, chairman, Students’ Welfare Association of Parents, Coimbatore.

Panel

R. Balakrishnan, State Advisor, Tamil Nadu High and Higher Secondary School Head Masters’ Association, said: “A committee with education officials, teachers and representatives of parents and public should be formed to look into issues of corporal punishment.”

He said that teacher should be suspended as soon as the issue was reported.

The committee should listen to both the parties carefully before taking further action.