A group of educationists and activists have appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to appoint a special officer to administer the school in Kallakurichi district where a girl student died on July 13.
The case has since been handed over to the CB-CID, but the educationists and activists say it is in the best interest of the students and the investigation “to keep the school management at bay”.
On Friday, the group submitted a representation to Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi.
The Departments of School Education and Social Welfare are responsible for monitoring schools and ensuring the welfare of students and protecting their rights. But there is no coordination between these Departments, with school activity being reduced to ensuring literacy and competence in numeracy, they have said.
The “consumer concept of education” has affected the children. With private institutions enjoying total freedom from monitoring by child rights agencies, student deaths are being reported in schools, they have said. Furthermore, no responsibility is pinned on the school management for sexual abuse on campus; such incidents are being treated as an individual matter rather than as institutional crimes.
The group has sought effective measures to regulate and monitor schools to ensure the safety and well-being of children. It has accused the Departments of School Education and Police of being insensitive and casual in handling the death of a girl student at a private school in Kallakurichi district on July 13. No agency other than the Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had deputed teams to the school, it has pointed out.
The group has said a close examination of the sequence of events, as narrated by the school management, led to the suspicion that the student could have been subjected to severe sexual abuse. “The narration that the child fell from the top floor of a building seems to be a cover for certain elements involved in the sexual abuse, resulting in the death of the child,” it has alleged.
With the case under investigation, a special officer should be appointed to administer the school, it has said. The educationists have expressed concern that the delay and complacency on the part of the Department of School Education may jeopardise the investigation. Hence, the management should be kept away until the probe is completed.
The group included retired professors V. Vasanthi Devi, A. Marx, K.A. Manikumar, P. Kalvi Mani, P. Sivakumar, V. Arasu, R. Murali, K Raju, A. Karunanandam, P. Raajamanickam, Saraswathi Govindaraj, S. Kochadai, Mu. Tirumavalavan, P. Ratnasabapathy, K. Ganesan, C. Lakshmanan, K. Kathiravan, C.S. Rex Sargunam and P. Murugaiyan Packirisami and activists S. Umamaheshwari, I.P. Kanakasundaram and P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu.
