Teacher made students clean toilets to implicate headmistress, suspended

The education department officers suspended a teacher from a government high school following the allegations of compelling girl students to clean toilets

The education department officers on Wednesday suspended a teacher from a government high school in a village of Davanagere town following the allegations of compelling girl students to clean toilets. An initial investigation found that the teacher allegedly made the students clean the toilets and recorded it to implicate the headmistress of the school, an official familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

A video surfaced on social media showing girl students cleaning toilets (HT)

The teacher, identified as CK Savithramma, found herself at the centre of controversy after a video surfaced on social media showing girl students cleaning toilets under her direction at a high school in Mellakatte village. The footage, captured on a mobile phone, depicted the students scrubbing the facilities with buckets and brooms, and raised questions about the teacher’s conduct and the school’s management.

The incident reportedly stemmed from a dispute between Savithramma and the principal of the school, A Shobha. Before the incident, Shobha had issued a notice to Savithramma citing concerns such as excessive use of mobile phones on school premises and alleged evaluation of exam answer sheets by her family members. People aware of the matter said that these grievances may have contributed to Savithramma’s actions.

Following a preliminary investigation by block education officer (BEO) Sher Ali, who visited the school on Tuesday, it was determined that the act of instructing female students to clean toilets was intentional on Savithramma’s part. This prompted the department to suspend Savithramma pending further inquiry into the matter.

“Soon after receiving the report from BEO, which indicted Savithramma, I suspended the teacher for the act prohibited by the government,” Davanagere deputy director of public instruction (DDPI) G Kotresh said.

“The girl students stated that teacher Savithramma told them to clean the toilets, hence a departmental probe has also been initiated against her,” he added.

Shobha, the head teacher, expressed her dissatisfaction with Savithramma’s conduct, alleging that the teacher’s actions were driven by resentment towards her. According to Shobha, Savithramma also provided the students with soap and a broom.