BENGALURU: Washing your plate after a meal is okay, but there are schools in the state where kids are made to wash dishes after having their mid-day meal.
A video, which went viral on Friday, was recorded by a person passing by a government school in the city where two girl students were washing big tumblers which have been used to serve mid-day meal. It has been revealed that this is happening not just in one school, but there are several schools in the state which are resorting to this practice.
The video was that of a Government Higher Primary school located in NR colony near Basavanagudi. There are two schools running in the same campus, one is a Corporation school run by BBMP and another by state department of primary and secondary education. According to the person who shot the video, this is an everyday schedule at the school. Speaking to TNIE, he said, "When I come home for lunch, I used to see this everyday, but I rush back to work. Hence, I could not take a video of it. Today, I was on leave and decided to capture the process."
However, the school authorities agreed that it is happening in their school and they are aware of it. But they blamed the mother of one of the girls in the video for this. Sukanya, an incharge head-mistress, said, " The girl's mother works as a helper in our school who also washes dishes. After lunch, she takes help of her daughter to wash dishes and a friend of hers joins them. We have warned the lady not to do this several times. But she is ignorant and this time, we will report it to the higher authorities."
Meanwhile, Nagasimha G Rao, child rights activist said this practice is there at several schools in the state and they do get complaints on Child Helpline. "At some level, it is allowed only if it is agreed by the Child Rights Clubs setup at schools. If they have discussed it and are doing it voluntarily to keep the campus clean, even washing the toilet is allowed. But if it is imposed on them by a teacher or by anyone else, it will be considered as a punishment. The act will be a punishable offence under the RTE Act."
"In this particular case, we need to talk to children and then only we will be able to decide whether it is a punishment or voluntary work," said Nagasimha.
The Block Education Officer said he will inquire into the issue by visiting the school.