Kids complain against errant teachers

Children complained of corporal punishment and teacher absenteeism in the city’s government schools in a four-day workshop which aims at putting forward expressions and true stories of children studying in them.

Over 60 children between the age group of 6-14 years from different slum areas of Vasant Kunj, R K Puram, Saket, Tughlakabad, Gazipur, Rohini, Uttam Nagar and Seelampur participated in the workshop.

The children are studying in government-run schools such as Nagar Nigam Prathmik Vidyalaya, Sarvodaya Vidyalaya and Government Girls Secondary School.

The four-day theatre workshop organised by Alliance for People’s Rights (APR) and Child Rights and You (CRY) will culminate into three short plays focusing on three broad issues pertaining to education followed by a panel discussion on October 18.

“After discussions with the duty bearers we will present the issues pointed out by the children to Delhi government and the education wing of the municipal bodies in Delhi.

With a special focus on Right to Education, we want to highlight what children feel about the kind of education they are receiving,” said Dr Bharat Singh, convenor of APR.
Walter Peter, an art director who has laid emphasis on education theatre, is conducting the workshops.

“These workshops help bring about personality changes in children as they get to work on self-discipline, team work, expressions and emotions. We try to fill the gap by holding these interactive sessions which schools should ideally focus on,” Peter said.

Teachers’ behaviour

On the first day of the workshop on Sunday, children sang songs and spoke about the positive and negative aspects of their schools. Several of them complained that teachers did not pay attention to their problems as they were busy talking on phones, or were absent from the class. Some teachers asked the monitor of the class to finish writing work on their behalf, some complained.

Children have also written letters highlighting what changes they would want in their schools.