Spare the rod, understand the child

Even as the world moves forward in the 21st century amidst super achievements in the area of education, it is sad and disconcerting that in the area of student-teacher relationship we still lag hopelessly behind.

When systems of education are constantly being upgraded, techniques of teaching improving by the day and areas of study expanding continuously, the manner in which teachers relate to students in schools is stuck at a time when phrases like “spare the rod and spoil the child” dominated pedagogy.

The latest instance in Bengaluru where a renowned school took it upon itself to tonsure the heads of a few students is an example of a medieval mindset, ruthlessly implementing discipline bordering on humiliation. The school has defended itself claiming lice in the hair of the students was the reason behind the tonsure, but there may not be many takers for this explanation.

In 2010, the Central Government banned corporal punishment in schools across the country when a Kolkata student committed suicide after being humiliated and caned by the principal of his school. Where the ban is violated, the culprits can face up to one year or jail, or fined Rs 50,000 or both. If the school persists, the violators can be jailed up to three years. The law made the head of the school responsible to prevent corporal punishment. Teachers found guilty of physical punishment could be denied promotions and their increments frozen.

Though a child rights cell was mandated to be set up in schools, it is anybody’s guess if this has been implemented. As with most other laws, its stringency appears to exist only on paper as there has been a slew of incidents in Bengaluru schools over the last one year with students subject to beatings for innocuous reasons as not doing homework, humming a song in class and under-performing in exams. One student reportedly became partially deaf and another lost his teeth and suffered cut on his lips from beatings. It is not clear whether legal action has been initiated against the accused but what the incidents indicate is that merely enacting a law is not going to halt the scourge of corporal punishment.

A deeper introspection needs to be undertaken on teacher-student relationships, the role of schools and the re-definition of success in the context of Indian society. Another crucial need is that of counsellors across all schools to deal with students who may not conform, exhibit behaviour not in consonance with the rest and in general “difficult” to handle. It is time schools learnt to spare the rod and understand the child.