Misbehaving students will be dismissed from school: Tamil Nadu minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Monday informed the Assembly that students will be dismissed from school if they misbehaved with teachers.

He was replying to PMK Floor Leader GK Mani who expressed concern over students' bad behaviour with teachers in class. Poyyamozhi said, "Students who misbehave with teachers will be dismissed from school and a Transfer Certificate will be issued. Besides, in the TC and conduct certificate, their bad behaviour will be mentioned."

He added that mobile phones will be confiscated if students take them to school. The minister further said as far as building the character of students is concerned, parents also play a role. Hence, to nurture good students, teachers and parents should work together.

He further informed the Assembly that to improve the attitude and behaviour of students, from the upcoming academic year, they will be taught about building good character physically and mentally and taught about ill-effects of drug use for the first one week.

After physical classes commenced following the end of pandemic, videos of students in the State vandalising school property and verbally abusing teachers have been doing the rounds on social media. 

However, activists voiced concern over the minister’s announcement. "This move may lead to a lot of issues. Students cannot be dismissed for committing mistakes. Teachers have also been involved in several malpractices. What is the punishment for that? It may be noted that sexual harassment cases have been registered against more than 100 teachers, but no action has been initiated. Such teachers must be fired according to government rules. The State must provide clarity on this first," said A Devanayan, child rights activist. 

"The government must reconsider its decision. If it is just a warning, it is welcome. But if it comes in the form of an official government order, it will threaten the future of students. Dropout rates may also increase. This is an issue that can be rectified through counselling," said Tamil Nadu Teachers Association president PK Ilamaran.