Sexual abuse in the classroom: Private schools playing safe

Bengaluru: Finding themselves backed into a corner by the current slew of allegations of sexual abuse in the classroom, school authorities are trying to avoid further embarrassment by hiring  teaching and non-teaching faculty through outsourcing.

It’s the latest tactic adopted by the few private schools in the city following the increasing incidents violating the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). But officials as well as legal experts are of the view that this tactic may not help the school managements if any untoward incident is reported in their schools.

According to sources in the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), after Monday’s incident in which a tutor sexually assaulted a four-year-old student, they received several complaints about schools who were hiring teachers and non-teaching faculty through outsourcing agencies.

“Till last year there was no such problem. This year many schools, especially on the outskirts, appointed employees through outsourcing agencies. This helps the schools avoid the various mandatory requirements like Back Ground Verification of the teachers, their salary and perks etc. As the government has also outsourced the appointment of teachers in a few of its schools, it is impossible to act against the schools. They are legally in the clear,” explained an officer.

Legal angle

According to the legal experts, even though teachers were appointed on a contractual basis, schools are still responsible for the incidents reported inside the campus. “As per the POCSO act, schools cannot wash their hands of responsibility by giving the excuse that the accused is an outsourced staff member,” says Anantha Padmanabha Hebbar, an advocate.

Justification

School managements justify their decision by saying even at Vidhana Soudha this outsourcing method is being followed. “It is impossible to appoint drivers, security guards or peons on our  payroll. So we outsource them. Now elite schools, especially schools run by corporate companies, are even outsourcing teachers’ jobs. But local schools,” he adds, “are still appointing teachers on a regular basis.”

According to Nagasimha G Rao of Child Rights Trust, this trend is really alarming. “The bond between teachers and students is unique. How can schools appoint teachers according to outsourcing method? We need to check this development,” he said.

Parents anxious about children’s safety
 
A day after the school principal, along with school owner and administrator, were arrested by the police after a 4-year-old LKG student was sexually assaulted by a 25-year-old dance teacher, anxious parents now await for the school management to hold talks with parents regarding reopening of the classes and ensuring safety and security of their wards.

Expressing dissatisfaction, a parent said, “As a parent I am still very worried to send my daughter to this school. How can I believe the management, which has not come forward and spoken to the parents? We don’t even know if the security measures have been updated or not. Even yesterday we were not given any chance to speak to the management. They just sent a text message to all the parents.”

DCP (South-East) Rohini Katoch Sepat told this newspaper, “The call to reopen the school or resume classes lies with the education department. On Thursday, officials from Education department had visited the school and they will decide when the school will be re-opened. Police have given the suggestion that the school management should hold talks with parents and assure them that the safety of their children is supreme.”

She further said that on Wednesday morning the Parapanna Agrahara police arrested the school principal along with school owner and school administrator and slapped charges of negligence under section 188 of IPC. They were later produced before the magistrate in the evening and  sent to jail. “The school management cannot hold talks with the parents until the school principal and two other members are out on bail. So far, no one has approached for the bail,” Ms Katoch added.

According to the police, the four-year-old was sexually assaulted she had gone for the dance class. It came to light after the student complained of abdominal pain to her mother, who then rushed her to a private hospital, where the doctors confirmed of sexual assault.

The 25-year-old teacher, Romeo, was arrested on Tuesday after the cops received intimation from the hospital on late Monday night following which the parents lodged a complaint. During the interrogation on Wednesday the accused had reportedly admitted to committing the crime, following which his statement was recorded and sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

Romeo, a native of Manipur, had come down to the city around four years ago. He did his B.Com here in the city and enrolled himself in several consultancies/agencies. The school had approached one such consultancy and had hired him as a part-time teacher on a contract basis for the student’s extracurricular activities.

The school presumed that Romeo’s background and character verification were already done by the agency and was hired. He worked as a part-time physical education teacher at the school for over six months, the police said. He was staying at a paying guest accommodation in Ejipura in Koramanagala.

“The police learnt that it was the accused’s first job. The cops are in the process of collecting corroborative evidence such as CCTV footage and other material evidences for the committed crime,” said a senior police officer.

Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.