Beaten by bamboo canes, forced to collect garbage and made to kneel for hours in the summer heat... We are not talking Guantanamo Bay here but routine corporal punishment that is meted out to students of Delhi's government schools. Amit Singh finds out that even after Shanno's death, nothing has changed
Beaten by bamboo canes, forced to collect garbage and made to kneel for hours in the summer heat... We are not talking Guantanamo Bay here but routine corporal punishment that is meted out to students of Delhi's government schools. Amit Singh finds out that even after Shanno's death, nothing has changed
At the Senior Secondary Government School, Malviya Nagar, students are rarely ever late. This show of 
discipline at the government-run school doesn't stem from the students' love for education, but because they fear the punishment for this "crime". Students allege that even if they are late by five minutes, teachers make them collect garbage from the entire campus.
Child psychologists may scream "exploitation" but at most of Delhi's government-funded schools, corporal punishment is a norm. The teachers at these schools do not seem to have learnt any lesson from the death of 11-year-old Shanno, who allegedly collapsed after her teacher forced her to stand in the summer heat for several hours.
"Beatings and other types of physical punishment are common in our school. Students are beaten up by teachers with thin bamboo canes, specially sharpened for hurting the most. From failing to read from textbooks to not bringing notebooks to school, students are severely punished for every small crime," said Suresh Kumar (name changed because he feared being thrashed by his teachers if found complaining), a Class XII student at the Senior Secondary Government School, Malviya Nagar.
"If we are late to school, teachers make us collect garbage from the campus. It's a back-breaking and dirty task," said a student of Class VIII.
However, despite several attempts, Delhi Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and Delhi Education Secretary Rina Ray couldn't not be contacted for their comments on the subject.
'Monster' mentor
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The situation is not peculiar to the Malviya Nagar school. Corporal punishment is rampant at almost all government-run schools in Delhi.
"If a student has not completed his homework he is given a light beating. But if a student is disturbing the class, he is likely to be asked to stand in the sun," said another student of the same school.
At the nearby Government Boys Secondary School in Khanpur, students said punishments were ruled by the teacher's mood. "There is no fixed punishment for anything. Everything depends on the teacher's mood. If he is in a bad mood, even for getting late by five minutes or so, students are not allowed to attend classes for hours. Teachers often ask us to kneel down in front of the whole class. This is their favorite punishment," said a student of Class VIII of the school.
Punishments also include psychological torture. Kamal Ahmad, a street bookseller, whose son is a student of Class VII at the Government Co-ed Middle School, Chandni Chowk, said, "Apart from beatings, teachers torture students mentally too. Recently, all students in my son's school were given money to buy stationery. But the school administration kept out my son and a couple of other Muslim boys. When asked to explain the reason, the authorities simply said that my son's name was not in the list."
However, like most parents whose wards study in government-run schools, Ahmad decided to keep mum about the situation. With his meager income not allowing his son's education in a private school, Ahmad knew he couldn't complain. "Sometimes my son complains about physical torture in school but we ignore him. If we complain, our child will either be suspended or rusticated from the school," said Ahmad.
Harmful for child
Child psychiatrists say that other than physically harming a child or causing death, as alleged in the Shanno case, corporal punishment can affect a student's mental development.
"Corporal punishment should not be used to discipline children. Research has shown that corporal punishment has harmful effects on a child's development. Children, who meet with such punishments repetitively, generally have low self esteem. Such children also have the lowest academic performances and the highest school dropout rates. Further, the personalities of such children are more aggressive and often worsen as they grow up," said Dr Samir Parikh, a reputed child psychiatrist.
'Only option'
Teachers of government schools feel that often it's impossible to discipline students without a thrashing.
Denying that students are physically punished at his school, the principal of the Senior Secondary Government School, Malviya Nagar, Ganga Ram, said, "I have strictly ordered teachers not to punish students, even if they do not study. Students may hold a grudge against a teacher and to take revenge, accuse him or her of inflicting corporal punishment."
On conditions on anonymity, one of the teachers of the same school said, "It's very difficult to teach students of government schools especially when they know that we are not allowed to punish them. Students hardly fear us. We punish students but only for their good."
Kulvider Singh, a Physical Education teacher at the Begampur Government School in South Delhi, agreed that punishment up to a certain degree is required to discipline students. "However, the punishment should not be harsh and teachers must be sensitive and act responsibly. For example, teachers should not make students stand in the sun for long in the summer."
The Shanno case
Shanno Khan, a Class II student at a school in Narela, died last Friday after becoming unconscious and slipping into coma for being made to stand in the scorching sun by her teacher.
Under the baton
>>u00a0Asked to stand in the sunu00a0
>> Run around the playgroundu00a0
>> Clean the school premisesu00a0
>> Be beaten by bamboo canesu00a0
>> Verbally abusedu00a0
>> Threatened to be detained in class
>>u00a0Threatened to be suspended
What the law says
The Delhi High Court delivered a judgement on December 1, 2000 when it directed states to ensure that children are not subjected to corporal punishment in schools and they receive education in an environment of freedom and dignity, free from fear.
In 2007, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, published the first nationwide study on child abuse in India, based on the experiences of 12,447 children aged 5-18 years from across 13 states. The study revealed a high prevalence of corporal punishment of children in all the settings u00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0094 their family homes, schools, institutions and on the streets.
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