End sought to sending children out of class

Parents say students in many schools are forced to leave class for not paying fees

After a court in Delhi ordered local schools not to send children out of the classroom as it can cause mental trauma, city parents are demanding the measure be adopted by city schools. Parents said students in many schools were forced to leave the class if the fee was not paid.

The Delhi court sentenced a school director to two months in jail for causing mental trauma to a seven-year-old student by sending her out of her classroom. Her father had claimed the school had punished the child after he questioned it over an increase in the fee and other charges.

In a similar incident in Hyderabad, 14-year old K. Sai Deepthi had hanged herself at her home in Malkajgiri after she was barred from sitting for her examination due to nonpayment of fee in February.

“Forget about asking the children to leave the classroom, managements here send them out of the school by giving them transfer certificates,” said a parent.

City parent Richa Singh said, “Punishment should be given if child a commits any mistake but she should not be beaten or asked to leave the class. Corporal punishment should be banned but the punishments which are within the threshold of the child’s capacity can be given.”

Mr K. Sainath Venkat, member, Hyderabad School Parents Association, said, “How can we forget Deepthi who committed suicide after she was insulted because her fees which was only `2,000 was delayed. She was also not allowed to write the examination and was abused and sent back.”

He said he had visited the family and found that Deepthi hailed from a poor family. Even after such incidents, the government did not implement stricter rules, Mr Venkat said.

Ms Pavani Vyasam, a city parent said, “If a school management is hesitant to have a child in school, there are other ways to deal with it, by communicating with the parent.”

While sharing her personal experience, Ms Srilatha, a parent in the city, said, “Children face mental trauma when they are sent out of the class. In my case, the school did not show my daughter’s exam papers when she was in Class II until I cleared her fees. Just imagine how my child must felt for that.”

IN SIX MONTHS , more than 10 cases of physical abuse in educational institutions up to Intermediate level have been reported across the state.

KOTHA SANDHYA, a Class X student of Udaya Memorial High School, Jadcherla, ended her life citing stress arising from schoolwork in October 2017.

SECTIONS 16 and 17 of the Right to Education Act (RTE) ban corporal punishment, both mental and physical, or expulsion from school.

MGM SCHOOL in Hyderabad forced its students to stand under the blazing sun. Four of the children slumped unconscious and shifted to hospital.