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| Need to sensitise teachers | | | Sunita Vakil | 7/17/2010 9:43:45 PM |
| Our educational institutions are fast becoming new breeding grounds of heinous crimes.
“The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil”, says Emerson. But sadly, there are some educators who, despite the supreme court ban on the administration on corporal punishment derive sadistic pleasure in meting out corporal and other humiliating punishment to children. Callous teachers continue to treat students like punching bags and indulge in canning, slapping, kicking and beating the children mercilessly, often for frivolous reasons. If seems as if the cane is being used as a tool of communication in adherence to the philosophy of “spare the rod and spoil the child”. Indeed, punishment, both physical and mental, has become an integral part of our education system. There have been hundreds of cases from schools across the country where defenceless pupils have received grievous physical injuries or have been driven to suicide due to the inhumane corporal punishment. This is a reflection of a deep rooted mindset in our education system that sees corporal punishment as effective and acceptable method of disciplining children. But in reality, all it does is send a dangerous message that violence and physical aggression are legitimate means of eliminating unwanted behaviour.
The recent case of Sahil Sachdeva once again highlights this point. A class 6 student, Sahil was allegedly slapped and humiliated by his teacher for coming late. Unable to cope with and interiosise the humiliation, he tried to commit suicide by jumping from the third floor of his school. This is a tragic story that could have eminated from any of the millions of schools in the country. What is particularly disturbing is that Sahil’s case is not an isolated incident. A recent study has shown that two out of every three children in India suffer physical abuse at the hands of their teachers. The shocking death of Rouvanjit Rawla, a student of kolkata’s well knon La Marteniere School, who reportedly committed suicide after being caned by the principal has jolted the conscience of the nation corporal punishment in India seems to be illegal only on paper as it continues to raise to ugly head from time to time. Last year, the heart rending death of Shanno Khan, an 11 year old Delhi school girl following a brutal punishment by her teacher for failing to recite the full alphabet string proves that court orders are not enough to curb such heinous crimes. The very fact that the child was made to stand in the scorching sun for two hours speaks volumes about the teacher’s inhuman nature. It needs no reiteration that violence against students in schools is on the increase. After all, there have been equally tragic instances where children had harrowing experiences due to the brutal tendency of their teachers. In one incident that occurred in Tiruchi in 2009, a six year old girl was hit by a teacher, locked up in a steel cupboard and later thrown into a water tank. In Lucknow, a five year old boy was tied with rope and dragged for 50 meters for not attending school regularly by his teacher. It was again in 2009 that 10 students were beaten up with a nail ridden cane in an MCD school in Delhi. Teachers who resort to such servere punishment are no less than criminals and need to be treated as such. They need to understand that learning can take place only in an environment of love, understanding and protection. More importantly, teachers should be given lessons that knowledge can not be imparted through third degree methods.
Longfellow once remarked “a torn jacket is soon mended but hard words bruise the heart of a child”. It cannot be gainsaid that humiliation and abuse can cause serious damage during the formative years to a child’s psychology, besides hurting him physically. The inhuman practice of corporal punishment fails to create a positive environment for children to unleash their creativity and innate talent. On the contrary, it does every thing to shatter them psychologically so much so that they resort to suicides. This has been corroborated by Health Ministry documents which reported 16000 student suicides between 2004 and 2006, though the actual member may be much higher. In human acts of teachers against students leads to an increased dropout rate, low self esteem and depression. Many little ones also develop school phobia. Many parants especially from poor background are also discouraged from sending their children to school. Thus their future is affected adversely. Besides, all efforts made by the govt. to ensure compulsory primary education will be rendered futile if teachers continue resorting to brutal punishments.
Even though the supreme court ordered a ban on the administration of corporal punishment to children almost a decade ago, it has not stopped teachers from brutalizing children. But more often than not incidents of corporal punishment go unchecked and those perpetrating them go scot free. Many teachers have been arrested but none of them has been punished worse, teachers remain unfazed by the consequences because either it is tacitly condoned or they are protected by virtue of their political affiliations. A show cause notice or temporary suspension is too feeble a response to counter the menace. Just framing laws will not help. Rules are useless until implemented fully. It is important to bring the perpetrators to book if such atrocities are to be prevented. Teachers should also be counseled against resorting to harsh punishment which on the rebound promotes a culture of violence.
The shocking incidents point to the urgent need to sensitise teachers to the dangers of resorting to such brutal punishments. It is very well to express horror and shock. But the simple truth is that a strong message needs to be sent across the country that the abuse of a child’s rights and dignity can not be tolerated in any way. The job of a teacher is to prepare a child to face the world. The whole object of education is to develop the mind of the children with care, protection and opportunities so that they grow and develop as good citizens. They need a positive environment to develop their intelligence creativity and skills. On the contrary, we are doing everything to push them towards humiliating and dehumanizing them, in the process stifling their talents. How can we play with the lives of our nation’s children?
The time has come to re-examine the saying “spare the rod and spoil the child”. Stern laws need to be enacted as well as implemented to do away with corporal punishment. What we need today is far reaching reforms in our education system. There is an urgent need to change our mindset. Education reforms do not mean only doing away with the present pattern of exams or tinkering with the syllabi. We need better teachers and quality schools which implement the law in letter and spirit. There is a need to save our education system from becoming profit earning ventures rather than centres for knowledge. Only then can India hope to meet the twin challenge of literacy and quality education.
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