Corporal punishment will not be tolerated

Updated on: Saturday, April 25, 2009

Chennai: Firmly instructing the collector across the country to hold meetings with all school heads and convey that no form of corporal punishment will be tolerated, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has made it very clear.

The commission chairperson, Shanta Sinha told that these meetings will have to be held before the start of the new academic year.

Following the recent incident in which an 11-year-old Shanno Khan of a Delhi school was brutally punished by her teacher the move had to be taken.

'The issue cannot be resolved unless we learn to respect children and treat them as equals. It is only because some teachers do not respect children and they use abusive terms like stupid or 'idiot'.

In 2007, the NCPCR wrote to all Chief Secretaries, stressing the need for abolishing this practice. 'â€¦It is being noticed that corporal punishment in schools, both government as well as private, is deeply ingrained as a tool to discipline children and as a normal action. All forms of corporal punishment are a basic violation of human rights. It is only legally impermissible¦' Ms.Sinha had stated in the letter then.

Nothing significant change has been made in the last two years, if the number of cases of corporal punishment being reported is any indication. 'There were a few instances of teachers taking a proactive step to address the issue in States such as Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Idukki district in Kerala was declared corporal punishment-free. Unfortunately, we did not receive much feedback at the official level.'

'Further more, parents should be given the confidence to provide feedback at PTA meetings. Fearing the students may be victimized, many parents are afraid to raise it at meetings, who know that their children are being subjected to corporal punishment she added.

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Corporal punishment will not be tolerated

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