BENGALURU: In a shocking case of corporal punishment, a sixth grade student of an ICSE school in Vijayanagar had to be admitted to a hospital on Friday after allegedly being hit by his mathematics school teacher for forgetting to bring his homework notes to class. The boy was discharged on Monday from Vani Vilas Hospital.
The incident came to light on Friday evening, when the student complained of ear pain to his parents after returning home from tuition at around 9.30 pm. “He told us his maths teacher in school had hit him for forgetting to take his notes to class. We first took him to school to ask the teacher what happened. But looking at the medical condition of our son, we took him to the hospital for treatment. Our son was complaining of severe ear pain and vision problems,” Lakshmi Narasimha, the student’s father, told TNIE.
The student has been studying in Blue Bell Public School, Vijayanagar, after being allotted a seat under the Right To Education (RTE) quota. The father, the sole bread-winner of the family, is a bus driver with a private transport agency.
Narasimha said he had tried contacting the school administration numerous times. When the parents eventually reached the school’s principal, they alleged that they were yelled at for calling late in the night. However, the school administration had a conflicting report about the incident although they admitted that the teacher in question, Mahadesh, was being questioned by the Block Education Officer (BEO). The school authorities alleged they made every effort to admit the child in a hospital and take care of the situation.
DPI ini tiates inquiry, meets parents, school authorities
“The teacher has been given a notice seeking an explanation and came to the school on Monday for an inquiry. When we got to know of the incident, we took the child first to a private hospital and then to Vani Vilas on Friday for treatment. The parents had approached us instead of taking him to the hospital first for treatment. Mahadesh, an MTech, has been teaching since four years and there has been no such case so far in the school,” Rajesh H N, chairman of the education society told TNIE.
Rajesh said children normally do not do homework and after the Covid-19 pandemic their psychology and seriousness about education has changed. Meanwhile, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has initiated an inquiry into the matter and held meetings with the parents and the school authorities. The Chandra Layout police have taken up a case and summoned the school teacher for questioning based on a complaint by the parents. They have also taken the statements of the parents and the child.
Dr Mallesh K, HOD, Paediatrics, Vani Vilas Hospital, said the child was admitted on July 1 and was discharged on July 4. He had an abrasion on his right cheek and was complaining of ear pain when touched on the cheek and ear. ENT, ophthalmology and psychological assessments have been done. His acute emergency condition is stable and he has been asked to come back for follow-up treatment after 2-3 days.
Another medical representative attending to the child, said while requesting anonymity: “The injury and marks on the face show that he was slapped and did not fall.”
Action will be taken, says official
Deputy Director for Public Instruction South, Bylanjanappa, told TNIE that a report on the incident is still underway and appropriate action will be taken against the school and teacher based on the report. Education Minister BC Nagesh told TNIE that the case would be seriously looked into and investigated. Block Education Officer, Bengaluru South, Girijamma H N inquired with principal Shobha R and Mahadesh. She, however, was not available to share details despite repeated attempts.