COIMBATORE: Following several complaints, the district school education department has transferred as many as 10 teachers of a government higher secondary school located at Siruvani main road to different schools in different blocks in Coimbatore recently.
In recent years the school was in the news over clashes between students, sexual harassment of a girl child by a Physical Education Teacher (PET), beating of a Class 8 boy student a teacher etc.
Besides, factionalism among teachers vitiated the atmosphere, thus hampering student education, said teacher sources.
After police arrested the PE under the Pocso Act, he was placed under suspension last year. Then, a headmistress was transferred to another school. In particular, around six teachers including males covered up the sexual harassment complaint by threatening the girl. After investigation, police also registered cases against some teachers recently.
Meanwhile, it was alleged Chief Educational Officer R Balamurali did not take any departmental action against the six teachers for the last six months even though he had suspended the drawing teacher who exposed the sexual harassment issue reasoning that his activities were severely hampering the institutional integrity of the school.
Amid all these developments, student admission fell this year and parents demanded all teachers should be transferred considering school and student welfare. Based on it, they have been transferred to different schools in Pollachi, Coimbatore city, etc., recently, sources added.
An activist, S Selvakumar in Coimbatore told TNIE, "Transfer is not a punishment. The school education department is handling the Pocso complaint without taking any punitive step and this indicates the apathy of officers."
According to the official sources, the department has issued show-cause notice to six teachers seeking an explanation and based on it, action would be taken. Repeated attempts to reach CEO R Balamurali went in vain.