In connection with a corporal punishment case at Ima Inaobi Ningshing Maheikol School, Tentha, Thoubal district, the Manipur Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MCPCR) has imposed a set of reformative and educative measures against a teacher as an exemplary correctional step.
The set of accountable measures are being imposed instead of resorting to penalising some individual (s) under the criminal justice system, stated a release.
Under the prescribed measures, the involved teacher will undergo a rigorous educational training to comprehend herself the basic legislations on Child Rights such as Juvenile Justice Act 2015, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) etc., besides learning the Positive Engagement and Alternative Measures to Corporal Punishment, it stated.
She will be joining sessions of trained child counselors and clinical psychologists to capacitate herself on essential knowledge and skills required to deal with children’s behavioral issues, it stated. The teacher shall contribute half of her one month salary towards the medical treatment of the victim child.
The school authority has guaranteed that the measures meant to deliver reformative and restorative justice as prescribed by the Commission will be fully complied, it mentioned.
Taking the accountability, the school management will appoint a trained child counsellor within a month and induction training will be organised for teaching alternatives to corporal punishment in school, it stated.
MCPCR asserted that all the school authorities in the state are reiterated to recognise that counseling service is an essential part of a child’s education. It is a vaccine for children to prevent themselves from unruly behaviors and substance abuse, it said. The Commission is hereby recommending once again to appoint at least a Child Counsellor mandatorily for every school in the state, it added.
It stated that the corporal punishment in school had been banned by laws such as RTE Act and JJ Act respectively. Because it unambiguously violates the constitutional right of a Child i.e. Right to life and dignity. It is potentially harmful to physical or emotional wellbeing of the children.
“Children are our future, they are critically susceptible, easily impactable with long term psychological drawbacks, when subjected to any form of corporal punishment which are illegal, unproductive and brutal. Therefore, nobody should defend and encourage corporal punishment in any manner, even on social media platforms,” it stated.
Schools must adopt universally accepted measures of positive engagements, provide child counseling service, take the help of experts, parents and guardians, and apply other decent measures which are productive, positive, non-violent and child friendly while managing the day-to-day behavioural problems amongst the children in school, but without practicing Corporal Punishment, it stated.
It said that the Commission, in no way obliged to encourage or justify any unruly behaviours of any child in the school. “We target the types of tools being used, which are legally prohibited and inappropriate. We endorse other ideal ways of disciplining and educating the erring children, which are alternatives to Corporal Punishment,” it added.
