Schools told to take measures to curb corporal punishment

Two years after a national child rights body sought steps to curb the menace of corporal punishment in schools, Delhi Government has asked school authorities to implement its directions that include keeping complaint boxes for children in the educational campus premises.

As per directions from the National Commission for Protection of Child's Rights (NCPCR), schools have been asked to hold general body meeting with all the parents of the students and device procedures for protecting children and their rights.

The aim is to make children aware of their rights and that they should not take corporal punishment as a normal activity in the school. "We have recently asked school authorities to inform the children in Assembly that they have the right to speak against corporal punishment and bring it to the notice of concerned people in the school," a senior official from Delhi Education Department said.

To sensitise the teachers, they will be counselled regularly in the staff meetings and told that if any kind of corporal punishment is meted out, the concerned teacher will be held accountable.