Canes wont terrorise these school students

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The excruciating pain of getting caned by one’s teacher will not haunt the students of Government Higher Secondary School for Boys, Neyyattinkara, anymore. In a rare gesture, the school management has decided to stop the unhealthy practice of corporal punishment meted out to students of their school.  The decision was made official when the principal of the school administered an oath against corporal punishment, before the students and teachers during a special assembly held in the school the other day. Besides implementing the decision, the school authorities have also brought out posters conveying messages against corporal punishment that are put on display on the school walls.  Speaking of the move, the principal of the school T Selvaraj said that the school was declared punishment-free for students as part of a move to convert it into a model institution.  ‘’Apart from this anti-corporal punishment move, we have also launched several other programmes such as incorporating a modified syllabus that gives stress on the creative side of the students,’’ Selvaraj added. The library of the 130-year-old school has been refurbished. The high school students have already come up with a feature film based on a short story by Rabindranath Tagore. The higher secondary students are presently working on another film based on an Irish short story called ‘Irish Rose’. Such exercises will encourage reading habits in students, said the principal.  According to P Rajan, the president of the Parent Teacher Association of the school, the banning of corporal punishment is just an extension of the good performance showcased by the school PTA, which has been adjudged the best in the district by the State Government this year.   ‘’The school management is also responsible for the actions of a teacher. What usually happens is that when a teacher faces legal action for alleged corporal punishment, he or she gets ditched by the managements. So, it is better to prevent such incidents,’’ said Rajan.   Having said so, it was learned that what prompted the school authorities to suddenly adopt such a corrective measure was that one of the teachers was currently facing litigation after he was alleged to have caned his students. However, the principal and the PTA president denied all such rumours.