Std IV student traumatised after class teacher punished her for wasting glue by smearing extra glue on her face and hand, humiliating her in front of the other students
Indira National School’s elected Parent-Teacher Committee will be discussing the complaints received against the teacher today
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All she did was remove more than necessary amount of Fevicol, but that's going to leave a mark on this nine-year-old student of a CBSE school in Pune. Why? Because in a fit of irritation, the girl's class teacher put the extra glue on her face and hand, humiliating her in front of the other students and prompting the parents to approach the school authority.
The incident took place at Indira National School in Tathawade run by Tarita Shankar. It was discussed on the online platform started by the school for raising such grievances; the school’s Elected Parent-Teacher Committee (EPTC) was also informed about it.
Punishment pain
EPTC member Aparna Pathak confirmed receiving a complaint via email from the girl’s parents on Thursday. “It appears that such an incident did occur on Thursday. We will meet the principal on Saturday to discuss it. It’s time that a dos and don’ts list was drawn up for teachers. Corporal punishment will not be tolerated in this school.”
“We plan to bring up another issue that has happened in the past — students being made to do lezim practise for hours under the sun in the afternoon,” she added.
The girl’s parent told mid-day, “My daughter is in Std IV. She was roped in for some craftwork to be pasted on stalls that the school is planning to set up for a fair it is hosting. She and others were doing that for which they had to use Fevicol. She removed slightly more than necessary. The teacher (identified as Sakshi) got frustrated and asked ‘Yeh extra fevicol kiska hai? Who removed it?’ My daughter accepted that it was hers. The teacher then said ‘Ab yeh iske face pe lagega’ and applied the Fevicol on her face, hands and eyebrows.”
“She came home crying and told me that she won’t go to school, as she has been insulted in front of her classmates with all of them laughing at her. She didn’t tell what exactly happened, just kept on crying and insisting that her school be changed. Also, because the Fevicol had dried, she was in pain, removing it hurt. I inquired about the teacher from her classmates’ parents and found out that most of them had complaints about the teacher’s behaviour with her students,” her mother added.
Inhuman exercise
Another parent whose daughter is in Std VII and was made to do lezim in the hot sun, which made her fall ill, said, “My daughter was told that it’s compulsory to participate in lezim. She and her classmates were made to practise out under the hot sun, which drained and dehydrated them. How can students this age be expected to do this? When they complained about it, the teacher would reply that she too is standing with them. Is there no sensitivity? Is the teacher justified in comparing her standing to the kids practising?”
“This is an unacceptable behaviour... We are certainly going to take this up with the school authorities,” said Pathak.
Despite repeated attempts, principal Geeta Pillai remained unavailable for comment. When contacted, Shankar’s personal assistant claimed that nothing of this sort had happened and said the principal should be spoken to for anything further.
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