Voice 9, North-East Desk: In Meghalaya, a sixth-grade student was "punished" and made to wear dirty shoes around his neck for not speaking English inside the class. A class VI student at Mary Immaculate School in Dangar Village was allegedly humiliated by his instructor for failing to speak English during class. In front of the headmaster, schoolteachers, and fellow students, the child was paraded in dirty shoes.
The child's parents filed a complaint with the
police, alleging that the school subjected their children to
"disturbing" and "illegal" penalties. This matter came to
light after a concerned citizen filed an FIR at the Dangar Police Outpost,
shedding light on a series of cruel acts performed against the school's
students. Sumitra D. Sangma, the humiliated student's mother, filed the FIR,
which described horrifying incidents of cruelty committed by the head teacher
and certain staff members.
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The FIR revealed major questions regarding the
credentials and training of most of the school's teachers, with some claiming
to be just replacement teachers. The absence of qualified teachers and
sufficient training exacerbates the issues that pupils experience, as well as
the overall quality of education provided in the school.
According to the students, the head teacher
would declare who would be selected. Students
alleged, the head teacher would declare who would be penalized at school
assemblies, following which the claimed "shoe parade" would take
place.
The students said that this happened on
alternating days and that the shoes were purportedly taken from trash bins.
In another complaint, the village headman alleged that "many more such inhumane punishments, such as licking dustbins, corporal punishment, and hair chopping, have been meted out in the school."
Rakkam A. Sangma, the State Minister for Education,
sought a report on the occurrence from the Deputy Commissioner of the concerned
district and the education department.
Calling the incident "unfortunate,"
the Education Minister said he will examine the matter after getting a report
from the District Magistrate.
It
is worth noting that the National Education Policy recognizes all Indian
languages as national languages in order to promote creativity and research.
The NEP 2020 recognizes the importance of the
mother tongue in encouraging critical thinking and creativity. The main
languages spoken and communicated in Meghalaya are Khasi, Garo, and Jaintiya.
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