Sit-ups with hands on ears not punishment in Haryana

Made to do squats and sit-ups while holding both ears as punishment in front of scores of students in a classroom was perhaps one of the most embarrassing moment for students, especially in government schools. This ‘much-practiced’ typical form of punishment for students in schools now will no more be offensive.

Beginning today, sit-ups with hands held to the ears will be a part of everyday routine in government schools in Haryana. That’s because the state education board officials feel this drill is meant to energize the minds of students and should not be viewed as any form of reprimand in schools.

Authorities says this drill is ‘super brain yoga’ for students.

On Thursday, this drill was carried out in a school in Hisar in Haryana by teachers. This school, with over 600 students, has been chosen for the experiment on a pilot basis.

Students will start to perform ‘super brain yoga’ in the next few days after schools reopen Monday onwards, sources said.

School education board secretary Rajiv Prasad said the decision to introduce ‘super brain yoga’ in schools on a pilot basis has been done to improve the mental and physical abilities of students.

The government claims there is enough research to establish the benefits of super brain yoga. According to sources, the process of doing sit-ups while holding ears will have 14 repetitions to be finished in one to three minutes.

There are so far no yardsticks determined by the education board that would measure the effectiveness of the exercise on students over a given period.

Besides, the feasibility of the squat drill for students in the sweltering heat also raises concern, like a recent communique by the HRD ministry that issued an advisory to schools to promote ‘sun exposure’ among children. The advisory comes at a time when temperature in this part of the country was crossing 44°C.