Karnataka headmaster suspended after school children transported in goods vehicles for field trip
MANGALURU: The headmaster of a government higher primary school in Balenja, Belthangady, has been suspended after schoolchildren were transported in a truck and a pickup vehicle for a field trip to a nearby farm.
A video showing the children being ferried in the vehicles went viral on social media, prompting parents to express serious concerns over their safety.
Belthangady Block Education Officer (BEO) Tarakesari stated that the school’s principal-in-charge, Kiran, had taken around 70 children, accompanied by a few teachers, on a visit to a beekeeping farm about 1.5 kilometres from the school on 11 February. The children were returned to the school in the same vehicles. The BEO added that the headmaster claimed a few former students had offered to take the children to the farm free of cost, and that parents had given their consent.
However, after the video circulated online, parents criticised the headmaster for putting the children at risk and lodged an oral complaint with the Belthangady BEO. The BEO subsequently submitted a report to the Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI).
G S Shashidhar, DDPI of Dakshina Kannada, issued the suspension order under the Karnataka Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 2021, and the Karnataka State Child Protection Policy (KSCPP). The order cited that no departmental permission had been obtained for the field trip, and that transporting children in open goods vehicles posed a serious safety risk, in violation of rules.