Raising serious concern about instances of corporal punishment in schools despite an absolute ban on it, the Directorate of Education (DoE) has reportedly issued a circular ordering all educational educations to adapt and enforce zero tolerance policy towards corporal punishment. 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. Schools need to adopt positive punishment as a form of behaviour modification in students. They can be assigned tasks which will keep them occupied like cleaning the blackboard, collecting worksheets or books from students in the class and making the student a class leader to keep a watch on students when the teacher is not present. Keeping the student back during the recess gives them time to reflect on their actions, and consider why it wasn’t worth doing in the first place. Impositions by writing a line several times and extra homework will keep them busy at home and away from the mobile. Teachers need to take cautious decisions when choosing appropriate punishments. Wisdom and experience is crucial in selecting the most appropriate and effective strategies.
