Gurgaon teachers demand protection after rape threat by Class-7 student

GURGAON: Various teachers’ associations in the state have demanded protection for the fraternity on Wednesday, a day after two separate incidents were reported from private schools in Gurgaon, wherein a student allegedly threatened his teacher with rape and another asked his teacher out on a dinner date. The associations stated that teachers feel unsafe at schools.

Teachers had raised a similar demand earlier after the murder of a school principal in Yamunanagar on January 20 this year.

The managements of various schools and teachers’ associations are of the opinion that the fraternity are suffering because they lack legal protection in cases of verbal abuse and threats, in person and on social media, by students.

Colonel (retired) Pratap Singh, president of Haryana Progressive

School Conference, said, “All these cases points towards a disturbed home environment. Some parents fail to groom their children; they vent their angst and behave rudely in front of the children, who also learn the same mannerisms and show disrespect towards teachers.”

On February 1, Singh had written to chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar demanding safety of teachers in schools across state.

Meanwhile, some academicians also pointed out that students nowadays are getting increasingly influenced by the social media, and this reflects in their behaviour.

“Counselling at home is very important for students. Parents these days do not have time for their children and thus the young ones ends up spending time on social media without any guidance. That’s where they are exposed to different behaviours. They try to emulate this in their life, without understanding the consequences,” said Satyanarayan Yadav, vice-president of Haryana schoolteachers’ association (Haryana Vidyalaya Adhyapak Sangathan).

CLASS-7 STUDENT SUSPENDED

The Class-7 student, who had allegedly threatened a teacher and her daughter with rape, has been suspended, a prominent private school in Gurgaon said in a statement on Tuesday.

In the same school, a Class-8 student allegedly asked a teacher out for a candle-light dinner and sex.