La Martiniere bans corporal punishment

KOLKATA - After facing all-round flak, the La Martiniere for Boys school here has banned corporal punishment and warned of stern disciplinary action against teachers found guilty of violating the rule.

The school has hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons after a class eight student committed suicide due to alleged physical and mental torture by teachers. Raouvanjit Rowla hanged himself Feb 12 after being caned by the principal Sunirmal Chakravarthi.

The board of governors called a media meet in Kolkata announcing the school’s decision to ban corporal punishment and introduce changes in the teachers’ service rules to keep a provision for stern action if found guilty.

“No student in the school will be subjected to physical punishment and mental harassment and whoever violates the rules shall be liable for disciplinary action if found guilty,” said governing board secretary Supriyo Dhar.

“If proven guilty, teachers will be liable to suspension from service, demotion in rank, while their increments may also be stopped. They may also face removal from service,” Dhar said.

Rowla’s suicide triggered a big controversy which prompted the state government to announce that it would form an authority where students and their parents can express their grievances about schools and teachers.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights also conducted a probe and expressed dissatisfaction over the teaching environment in the school.

Besides the controversy about the caning and the suicide, the leading city school has also been under scrutiny after the arrest of a teacher for allegedly demanding a laptop from a student to promote him to a higher class and then failing the child as his parents refused to meet his demand.