DEO instructs schools not to beat up children

Ludhiana: On Tuesday, district education officer (Elementary) Rajinder Kaur has issued a notice to all block primary education officers not to misbehave with or beat up children. The letter further states that this notice needs to be looked into by all government, private, and aided schools, as three cases were reported last month from government schools.
The circular states that no teacher should misbehave with students and beat them up, especially in schools which fall under BPEO’s area. On this, Rajwinder Gill from Child Rights Commission (Punjab), said, “Corporal punishment has unfortunately become a part of children’s lives both in school and at homes. The parents and teachers support each other in using corporal punishment against children, and therefore, it goes unchecked and mostly unnoticed. It is in fact on the increase. It is not only physical but verbal, mental, as well as emotional abuse. This has a negative impact on children.”
However, a government teacher said, “It is easy to say, but children are at times difficult to manage, we need to scold them when they create a lot of ruckus. Moreover, there are no counsellors in government schools. I feel more counsellors should be deployed in school premises, especially private schools.”
Kavita, whose son was recently beaten up at a school, said, “The news items on corporal punishment, both physical and psychological, are a matter of great concern. It needs to be realised that no teacher or elder has any right, under the existing laws of the country to give any kind of punishment, especially in schools. My son was beaten up with a rod, and it had an effect on his psyche. The common belief ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ does not hold good any more. There is an urgent need for total social transformation, in the mindset of parents, teachers, and all the elders. There is need for sincere and massive advocacy to ban corporal punishment.”