Mumbai: Why government schools are highly unsafe for kids

Eighteen years after a Supreme Court order banned corporal punishment in schools across India a survey by Gurugrambased NGO Agrasar has revealed the shocking plight of underprivileged children in government schools who continue to be at high risk of abuse at the hands of their teachers With key findings such as lack of awareness regarding corporal punishment among teachers and parents inadequate professional training in use of alternative methods insufficient school governance and frustration among teachers the research points out why physical assault and verbal harassment are normalised in government schoolsThe survey titled Choking Childhood School Corporal Punishment Everyday Violence Faced by Disadvantaged Children in India will be released on November 20 observed globally as Universal Childrens DayAccording to Agrasar 521 children between the age groups of six and 14 years participated in the survey The children hail from families with the income between Rs 4000 and Rs 14000 per month Over and above this the NGO has surveyed 100 parents held three focusgroup discussions with 29 parents and semistructured interviews with 40 children and 12 teachers from two government schools in GurugramPrerit Rana Agrasar CEOFrustration and prejudice reign in schoolsAgrasar which works in the sector of education opportunities for underprivileged children was introduced to the topic of corporal punishment through one of its students While there are so many organisations working in areas such as quality and reach of basic education nobody is looking at the subtle nature of physical or mental abuse in schools This led to the survey explained Prerit Rana cofounder and CEO of AgrasarOf the respondents surveyed around 80 per cent spoke about being beaten up regularly at school And a shocking 71 per cent of them said that being beaten up for a reason was okayFollowing the research the NGO was able to offer a detailed explanation as to why corporal punishment is rampant in government schools According to the findings teachers in government schools have to engage in a number of activities that are unrelated to teaching such as election duty office admin and secretarial work cleaning maintenance work etc They feel they are given insufficient financial support from the government and do not have enough time for teaching which results in enormous frustration the research pointed outThis frustration combined with a lack of professional and ethical conduct which is fuelled by prejudice against children from poorer backgrounds creates a toxic environment causing teachers to vent their anger and act aggressively towards students Many children said that teachers punish them if they are in a bad mood and sometimes without any apparent reason the research citedIncidentally the research team from the NGO learnt that the teachers were well aware of the fact that corporal punishment was illegal but overstepped the law because they did not feel there was another way to discipline childrenRana said that since a lot of issues are currently unresolved in government schools corporal punishment is least of the authorities concern More so there is a major prejudice among teachers toward students from poor families They feel that these children are going to replicate their parents lifestyle in future and therefore not worthy of education This causes many teachers to act in a rude and dismissive way which then translates into scolding and verbal harassmentParents from this demographic are also unaware of the fact that corporal punishment is wrong because it is a prevailing practice in their households Rana added With the prevailing thought that punishment is a must to discipline a child there is a need for creating awareness regarding alternative measures We have already started holdings awareness campaigns for teachers schools and parents he said adding that a blanket ban is not always a foolproof measureMumbai children feeling the strain tooWhile this research is based on sample information collected from schools in Gurugram Rana said that it is likely that students in government schools across the country are facing a similar predicament We have started a pan India research project on the same subject which will take another year to publish considering its vast nature he saidWhen Agrasars survey was brought to the notice of school authorities and experts in Mumbai the responses were similar A teacher from a government school in Santacruz on condition of anonymity revealed that there have been several instances of teachers slapping or hitting kids Students dont talk about it out of fear Sometimes parents themselves ask us to scold and beat their kids the teacher said adding Even though we have CCTVs it does not cover the entire premises hence such cases go unnoticed by authoritiesShyam Sonar national executive of the All India Forum for Right To Education which works towards education of children from underprivileged backgrounds said In civic as well as government schools corporal punishment is a rampant practice Parents are least bothered due major unawareness While we strongly condemn it we also feel that this situation needs to be examined by the system to provide correct alternativesSonar pointed out that at present 30000 posts of teachers are vacant in government schools in Maharashtra and the list of nonacademic works allotted to teachers includes a total of 117 tasks With the skewed studentteacher ratio and immense burden of nonacademic task students in these schools are becoming easy target of teachers frustration said SonarPrashant Redij spokesperson of Maharashtra Principals Association echoed similar sentiments Teachers in government schools are overburdened with so many nonacademic responsibilities They barely get time to be good teachers he saidAnna Corea principal of St Stanislaus School said that only awareness can help Many of the teachers belong to a generation where child rights was not a burning issue Considering this it is important that teachers are imparted positive behavioural management skillsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates