NEW DELHI: About 1,300 principals of private, government and aided schools across Delhi were sensitised in a programme recently on the ‘dos and don’ts’ of ways to discipline students without punishing them.
The State Council of Educational Research and Training, an autonomous body providing academic resource support to the Directorate of Education and the education departments of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and the Cantonment Board, in its October 16 event at Vigyan Bhawan, focused on elimination of corporal punishment in schools.
“It was conducted following orders by the National Commission of Protection of Child Rights to spread awareness among school principals as many fail to understand how to discipline students,” said a Council official.
Corporal punishment comprises mental harassment and discrimination by teachers or school administrators aside from physical punishments. It also includes all forms of sexual offences as per the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. According to Section 17(1) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, ‘physical punishment’ and ‘mental harassment’ are prohibited.
“We still hear of corporal punishment… So, teachers and principals need to understand how to move towards positive disciplining and how schools can evolve strategies to eliminate it. Schools can adopt sensitisation and orientation of teachers about alternatives, positive disciplining and strict action, life skill education for students etc,” State Legal Services Authority special secretary Geetanjli Goel said.
Complaints of corporal punishment mainly come in from government schools, according to officials. Private schools claim regular in-house workshops are conducted to sensitise teachers about it being a punishable offence. “We are very particular about sensitising teachers as we don’t believe in adopting corporal punishment to discipline students, which otherwise can be done with love and affection. Despite awareness, reinforcement is always required,” said Shalini Khana, vice-principal of Amity International School, Pushp Vihar.
NCPCR guidelines
A school should have a clear protocol to guide teachers about which situation needs an assessment and intervention by a counsellor and which one needs to be immediately intimated to higher authorities at school, and the parents
If an attempt at resolving the problem is not satisfactory, parents could then be referred to a specialist
The child and adolescent psychiatrist or counsellor should help children learn behaviour that helps them develop a sense of self-discipline
S/he should constantly interact with the child, his/her parents and teachers to understand the difficulties
The parents of the child should be taken into confidence before sending said child to counselling