Two teachers from a private primary school in Camurlim, Bardez have reportedly been booked by the police in connection with the brutal assault on a Class IV student, leaving the 9-year-old boy with severe injuries, including cut marks, bruises and blood clots. This incident has prompted swift reaction from both the police and the Education Department. It is learnt that one of the teachers beat the student with a steel ruler on flimsy grounds of allegedly tearing pages from his notebook. The second teacher is facing charges in restraining the student during the assault and hence had a hand in the violent attack. Corporal punishment in schools in India is banned for children aged 6-14. Section 17 (1) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 expressly bans subjecting a child to mental harassment or physical punishment. Teachers need to be checked for violent demeanour. They could be under domestic stress and react violently with students in the school on flimsy grounds. The school management needs to take necessary action against such teachers with vicious behavior and nip the menace in the bud.
