BANGALORE: With the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issuing guidelines to eliminate corporal punishment in schools, the state Department of Public Instruction has expressed concerns over complete enforcement of guidelines, due to absence of a clear code under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for corporal punishment.
Speaking to Express, Commissioner for Public Instruction Tushar Girinath said, “The department has always advocated that corporal punishment is illegal. We have taken stringent action against erring teachers. However, as there is no clear code under the IPC that protects children against corporal punishment, it is difficult for us to enforce guidelines wholly.”
“There is a long way to go until we see a day when corporal punishment would be covered under the jurisprudence of the legal system. For now, the severity of the punishment determines whether the IPC can be revoked,” said Girinath.
He explained that only if the punishment is murderous in nature (in terms of extent of injury) that the IPC would come into the picture. The NCPCR, on its fifth foundation day on Monday, brought out the guidelines, after a detailed study, which was conducted in 2009-10 involving 6,632 children across seven states.
The survey revealed that the use of physical punishment was rampant in schools and cane beating was a common practice.