In yet another case of corporal punishment in a private school, a teacher allegedly beat a 10-year-old boy with a stick on Thursday for skipping remedial classes the previous day. The class five student has a hearing impairment and was badly bruised, said his parents.
The boy’s mother, along with other parents, staged a protest at the A. U. Nursery, Primary and High School in Guttahalli demanding action against Kannada teacher Pooja Narasaiah.
Earlier this week, a teacher of Evershine English School near Srinagar had slapped a student for not completing his homework. The teacher was suspended.
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The latest incident came to light when the child’s father arrived at the school mid-morning with his lunch-box. According to the parents, the boy came out of the class and narrated the incident to his father.
The boy had been selected for remedial classes after his teachers deemed him academically weak. However, he and another student did not attend the class and also failed to inform the teacher.
The mother of the student said, “If my son is missing classes or not doing the work assigned to him, the school must inform us. How can they beat our son? We demand action against the teacher.”
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Tanseer Ahmed Jaffer, secretary of the school, acknowledged that the teacher had beaten the boy but described it as a ‘small’ issue, which was resolved. “The school management has sought a written apology from the teacher, Pooja Narasaiah,” he said, adding that a warning has been given to the teacher. “Other teachers, too, have been warned that such instances [of corporal punishment] should not take place. The boy’s father also beat up the child, which aggravated the injury.”
The child’s mother has denied the allegation the father, too, had raised his hand on the student.
Explanation sought
G.K. Puttaraju, Block Education Officer, North Range 2 said that a show cause notice will be issued to the school seeking an explanation.
The school, which follows the State syllabus, was established in 1979 and has a student strength of 260 from nursery to class ten.
Letter of the law
- Section 17 of the RTE Act states that ‘no child shall be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment’
- In 2017, the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights received close to 30 complaints pertaining to corporal punishment