Education Department in Kashmir Implements Ban on Corporal Punishment in Schools
The Kashmir school education department on Thursday ordered ban on corporal punishment and other forms of child abuse in the educational institutes across the Valley.
The school education authorities urged the education officers, headmasters and heads of institutions to ensure ban on corporal punishment in all government as well as private schools.
In a circular, the school education department director informed that distressing complaints are pouring in regarding corporal punishment to the students in schools as per the report received from IMHANS-K, resulting in mental health issues in school going children.
The order read that the negative consequences of corporal punishment not only hinder the learning and development of the affected children but also create an environment of fear, and hostility within the educational institutions
“It is impressed upon all the school heads and teaching officials (both private & Govt) to refrain from inflicting the corporal punishment on students in the educational institutions,” the order stated.
Any deviations in this regard will be viewed seriously and the strict punitive measures will be taken against the violator, as per the intensity of the abuse, the order further read.
All CEOs, cluster heads, zonal education officers, headmasters of high schools, headmasters of middle and primary Schools, co-coordinators of recognised private tuition centres were put on strict instructions to ensure the ban on the corporal punishment and other forms of abuse in all the private and government schools in their respective domains.
“Corporal punishment of any nature is not acceptable under any circumstances. Brutal treatment to students in the name of reforming can never be accepted as an excuse, as it can never inculcate good discipline and good habits in hem. On the contrary, indulgence in violence by teachers is bound to set a very bad example before the students,” the order read.
Last year, the school education authorities had ordered no books and bags for pre-primary students and no home work for students upto Class 2. The school education department had also set maximum weights for the school bags besides specifying which subject to be taught from which standard.
While setting the maximum permissible weight of the school bags, the authorities stated that the weight of a school bag for Class 1 and 2 should not exceed 1.5 kg.
Similarly the maximum weight of school bags has been fixed as 3 kg, 4 kg, 5 kg and 5.5 kg for Classes 3rd-5th, 6th-7th, 8th-9th and 10th, respectively.
