Ban only on paper

Parents in the city are agitated after the incident at Antonio Da Silva School in Dadar. Bhavna Gupta, a mother of two, says: “A teacher is not supposed to punish kids like this. This is inhuman.” A month ago, a student of a Worli school was thrashed by teachers.

Corporal punishment is banned in educational campuses in India under Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act (2005) and also under Right of children to free and compulsory education Act 2009. The RTE Act empowers right of every child aged 6-14 years a free education without violating any rights given in Protection of Child Rights Act 2005. But both the Acts seem to be only on paper.

Most cases go unreported as parents are either unaware or lack courage and resources to protest. Jayant Jain, president of NGO Forum for Fairness in Education, says, “Around 80% schools in interior Maharashtra are giving corporal punishments but most cases go unreported because parents are not aware about child rights.”

Asha Bajpayi, professor of Tata Institute of Social Sciences who works on child rights issues, says: “Teachers need to learn their basics before handling the innocents.”

School education minister Rajendra Darda could not be contacted for his comments.

@kanchanDNA