Punishing kids is OK, says K’taka mantri

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mangalore: Even as educationists are coming down heavily on corporal p u n i s h m e n t , Mangalore district in-charge and minister for ports and inland transport, Krishna Palemar, on Saturday approved of it in schools. He said that at least in his case, it helped him become a better individual.

At a district-level Teachers’ Day celebration here, Palemar said corporal punishment like tweaking of ears and making students stand on benches was needed to discipline unruly students. He was referring to an incident at Ullal Seyyid Madani School after which parents filed a police complaint against a teacher for allegedly beating a student.

“When a teacher or parent approaches the police, it sours the sacrosanct relationship between a teacher and student,” Palemar said, adding that when a teacher is not given respect, it means the society has hit a low.

The minister also pointed out that when parents find it difficult to manage one or two children at home, one could imagine how much patience a teacher needs to have to manage a class with 70 to 80 children. “The teacher showers love on students much more than parents and teachers should be given respect,” he added.

Palemar also mentioned the government’s initiatives for the well-being of teachers, which included online payment of salary, special grants and transparency in transfers. Ullal MLA U T Khader urged the government enact a law which prevents the police from entering school campuses. Mangalore MP Nalin Kumar Kateel urged teachers to impart quality education, along with moral values. Present and retired teachers were honoured on the occasion.

On Teachers’ Day, J’khand tutors strip over pay
Ranchi: It was a Teachers’ Day with a difference in Ranchi as thousands of teachers braved the pouring rain and walked to Raj Bhavan with a long list of grievances and begging bowls in their hands. But there was more to come, when in a rerun of last year’s show, 300 of the protesters started stripping. Police at Raj Bhavan immediately cordoned off the area. But the teachers could not meet the governor and left their charter of demands with an official.

About 2,000 primary, secondary and intermediate teachers, including women, assembled at the Morabadi Ground around 11 am and then marched towards the governor’s house about a kilometre away, carrying banners and placards and raising slogans. Some of the teachers were arrested but released in the evening. The event left the students shocked. “I just could not believe my eyes,’’ said Ranchi College student Mihir Oraon. Among other demands, the teachers wanted a permanent affiliation of 56 inter colleges to the Jharkhand Academy Council and 23 Sanskrit upper vidyalayas. They also demanded a hike in honorarium for para-teachers. TNN