CHENNAI: Following an incident where a 17-year-old Dalit boy was brutally attacked by his classmates, Tirunelveli Chief Education Officer Chinnarasu has submitted a preliminary report to the school education department. Sources privy to the developments said it didn’t find any wrongdoing on the part of the headmaster or the school.
However, school education director G Arivoli denied that any report has been submitted to the department.
The school education department is also mulling what action it could take against students who indulge in violent activities, sources added.
The report only details the incidents that took place in the school and didn’t have any recommendations, said sources. Following the submission of the report, information spread that it recommended the transfer of the children to another school considering that the boy should study peacefully and write the Class 12 examinations.
However, school education officials denied that any such recommendation was made. The boy, studying in a government-aided school in Valliyoor, was continuously harassed by his classmates belonging to a dominant caste and he stopped going to school.
After this, teachers from the school summoned him to the school along with his parents. When the student said he was being harassed, the headmaster and teachers warned his classmates after which the brutal attack took place.
Following the incident, several activists criticised the school education department for not preventing the students from wearing caste threads, which is prevalent in the southern districts of the state. “School education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi released a video that he would bear the higher education cost of the attacked student. Instead of making such announcements to keep their image intact, the school education department should take steps to make schools safe spaces for all children,” said a child rights activist.