New rules to stop corporal punishment in schools: Buddhadeb

KOLKATA - Emphasising that physical and mental torture of students hindered their natural development, the West Bengal government Thursday said it has formed new rules for schools to stop corporal punishment.

Making a statement in the state assembly on the suicide of a class 8 student, Rouvanjit Rawla of La Martiniere School for Boys, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee claimed that some schools were indifferent to the need of protecting their students.

“Physical and mental torture on students are against their natural development. It is mandatory in the overall interest of students to ensure that the school’s atmosphere does not give rise to fear among them,” he said.

Bhattacharjee said that incidents “keep happening” which made one feel that some school authorities and their teachers were loath to attaching the necessary importance to the issue.

Pointing out that the state government has come out with multiple notifications to raise awareness among school authorities, he said: “New rules have been formed for the schools on the issue.”

The premier city school was embroiled in controversy following allegations that Rawla committed suicide after being caned by the principal Sunirmal Chakravarthi. Rawla’s father has lodged a complaint against the principal and four teachers.

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