Hyderabad: Turns out, there are no strict laws preventing teachers from beating students. Child rights advocates have said that corporal punishment, under the Right to Education Act, does not have a special Section and the punishment to government teachers is guided only by the service rules.
As per the service rules laid down by the government, teachers cannot face prosecution and they can be penalised only through methods such as cutting of salary, stoppage of pension or suspension.
“Many teachers get away without realising the magnitude of the crime they’ve committed. In most cases, the court seeks evidence and usually there is none. We have to run our cases based on circumstantial evidence. Also, parents generally arrive at a compromise with school authorities since they do not want to get involved in legal issues,” said an advocate.
Another advocate, however, insisted parents must bring instances of corporal punishment to the forefront.
“We have seen just a few of these cases. There are hundreds of such cases that do not come to light, because parents reach a compromise with the school authorities and let the teachers go scot free. There are complaints against several women teachers as well. But since they are women, they just get a talk.”
