Government-aided schools start forming Student Leader Groups to solve issues

PUPILS-TEACHERS GRIEVANCES

Students of governmentaided schools have started forming Student Leader Groups to tackle problems between students and teachers. Students aim to resolve issues faced inside classroom through these groups and address it in a formal way. Students claimed they want to focus on ground level issues which are never spoken about openly. Complaints regarding these issues are not addressed adequately by school principals or management too, according to students.

These issues include--being shunned for raising a doubt in the class to being verbally abused for not completing homework. Students revealed, these problems may not seem grave, but they impact students in the long run. Vishal Patel, a Class 8 student said, "Teachers often use abusive words while scolding us. More than the physical abuse, these words hit us hard and affect us mentally. And secondly, there is no recorded proof of such verbal abuse having transpired, so we cannot complain officially."

In addition, students revealed, they are often shunned when they ask a difficult question or raise a doubt in the classroom. Mithali Seth, a Class 9 student said, "I was asked to remain quiet when I raised a doubt four years ago. My teacher told me never to ask anything out of the syllabus and since then I fear asking questions in class."

Students feel these groups comprising of their contemporaries will speak up on such incidents and take the students' complaints to higher authorities. Yogesh Jha, a student leader said, "We will form these groups at the student level and create a platform for students to discuss their problems uninhibitedly. After which, we will escalate these complaints to the higher authorities."