Schoolboy in exam hall with police cover

A class XII student in Kerala may take his board exams next week under police protection after the authorities threatened to bar him from sitting for them, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Feb 14, 2008, 02:35:27 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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A class XII student in Kerala may take his board exams next week under police protection after the authorities threatened to bar him from sitting for them because he complained against harassment at school to the police and a central government panel charged with ensuring the rights of children.

The school confiscated the boy's mobile phone after he was caught with it in violation of school rules. When he protested, he was reprimanded, humiliated and threatened action the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) described as "corporal punishment".

Should the state government fail to ensure the boy's protection, both officials and school authorities may have to appear before the commission in Delhi for a hearing. According to Sandhya Bajaj, member, NCPCR, this is what happened.

The student, of Kottayam's Pallikoodam School, went to the police after the authorities refused to return his phone. The police went to the school and got him back his phone, but the school hit back by repeatedly reprimanding him for involving them in the matter. At which point, the boy complained to the NCPCR.

The commission issued a notice to the school, which apparently riled the authorities even more. "He was publicly humiliated in the daily assembly for Class IX, X and XI for approaching us. This amounts to corporal punishment and action can be taken against the school," Bajaj said.

On February 4, an NCPCR team led by Bajaj visited the school and met with the child, his parents, and the school authorities. The school took the line that the boy had been pulled up because he had been bragging about his 'victory' to the other students, and a message needed to be sent out that indiscipline would not be tolerated.

The NCPCR was not willing to buy this. "Even if the boy committed a mistake, he cannot be treated in this manner. It is against the law," Bajaj said. In a letter to the state chief secretary, she wrote: "While interacting with the child I noted that he was very upset. I am scared that he would harm himself."

But the matter still didn't end. On reaching Delhi, Bajaj received another complaint from the boy by email, saying the harassment had increased. He had left the school and gone to Kanoor, about 1,200 km away.

An alarmed NCPCR managed to persuade the boy to return, and told chief secretary PJ Thomas that the school was continuing with its corporal punishment despite the panel's directive. "As it can have long term impact on the child, I request you (Thomas) to intervene and end harassment of the student. If necessary the student should get police protection to appear for his examination," Bajaj said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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