PANAJI
A day after five students of Class XI were suspended for using pepper spray on fellow students, the child rights commission has called for immediate withdrawal of the decision, highlighting that the punishment could lead to humiliation and disengagement of the students involved.
In a letter to the Education Department on Saturday, Chairperson of the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR) Peter F Borges explained that the suspension, though for a month, is unlikely to be significantly effective. Instead, he emphasized, this punitive measure could have adverse repercussions on their future lives.
“While the Commission understands that schools do have the right to impose reasonable sanctions if a pupil misbehaves, but action like suspension for one month is likely to be the least effective way of managing behaviors and could have negative effects on students in later life. In this situation, these five students will be left humiliated and disengaged by the punishment that is given, which also violates their rights,” he said.
On Friday, five students including a girl from Shree Shantadurga Higher Secondary School in Bicholim were suspended for one month. This decision by the school management was made after 11 students had to be hospitalized for suffocation and nausea after pepper spray was released in the classroom. The affected students were released from the hospital but the gravity of the incident drew the government’s attention with a show cause notice issued to the school management as well.
The GSCPCR reiterated that while school discipline must be administered in a way that respects a child’s human dignity, there is also a need for greater focus on the psychological needs of students.
“Students face numerous and complex stressors that school administration needs to understand better to assist them in successfully navigating their school years. Punitive procedures and discipline practices can contribute to students disengaging from school and create the conditions for a negative school climate. A progressive discipline approach is needed that allows students to remain in school and receive required services for behavioral issues,” it said.
Seeking to revoke the suspension order, the Commission sought a compliance report from the education department on the recommendation within a week.
