CLASS OF SHAME

Girl with 92% marks in Class XII fails to get into LSR, kills herselfTIMES NEWS NETWORK

Gurgaon: Kritika Khanna, who passed out of Shri Ram School in Gurgaon this year with 92% in Class XII boards, flung herself to death from her 11th floor balcony apparently because she failed to get admission in Lady Shriram College. “Her family members did not divulge much, but said she was suffering from depression and had withdrawn,’’ said a police officer.

Police said Kritika was in the balcony of their apartment in DLF City’s Regency Park conversing with her mother, a teacher in Shri Ram School, and her brother. “All of a sudden, the girl took the deadly plunge from the railing. It took a while for her family to realize what happened,’’ said Jagdish Prasad, SHO Sector-29 police station. Shri Ram School officials were not available for comment. Peer pressure seemed to be the main reason behind her suicide, he said. “Her parents have told us while most of her friends got admission in LSR, she had to get into Jesus and Mary College in psychology honours. This led to her taking the extreme step,’’ Prasad added. The police found no suicide note. Kritika’s body was handed over to her family on Saturday after a post-mortem was conducted.

Kritika’s death sent alarm bells ringingin the light of increased reports of students going into depression for failing to get a college of their choice. Said clinical psychologist Dr Jayanti Dutta of Delhi University, “This is on the rise. We have rigid parameters and if we take alternative options in life we are not appreciated by the peer group. We are judged by parameters such as percentage and marks, not on our intelligence,’’ she said.

Schoolowner rapes Jaipur teen, Haryana teacher strips 9-yr-old
Jaipur/Faridabad: Two girls faced harrowing time at their schools with one being raped by the schoolowner and another stripped off her shirt by her teacher for not paying tuition fee. In Jaipur, a 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by the owner of her school, Ramesh Sain, at the school’s office on Friday. Angry locals pelted stones and gheraoed the police station to protest against the incident. The accused has been arrested.

In Faridabad on the outskirts of Delhi a Class III student was stripped off her top by her class teacher for not paying her tuition fee despite the fact that the child, a daughter of an autorickshaw driver, was entitled to full fee concession. The teacher has been detained. “I was forced to take off my Tshirt. When my teacher caught hold of my skirt, I told her not to do that. When I asked why she was doing it, she said it was the principal’s order. Then I was asked to stand half naked for a long time and when I tried to cover myself, she asked me to stand straight,’’ the nine-year-old victim said.

The victim’s mother said she has a document to prove that her daughter is exempted from paying fees. Taking note of the incident, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPR) has said stern action will be taken against the teacher if she is found guilty. “Not only the teacher, the school management and authorities are equally responsible,’’ Sandhya Bajaj, NCPR member, said.

The police have booked the two teachers of Model School in Faridabad allegedly involved in the incident. A case has been registered against the teachers, identified as Lalita and Nitu, under section 354 (assault on woman with the intention to outrage her modesty) and under the SC/ST Act, police sources said. AGENCIES

3 BIT students punished for ragging

Anil Ashutosh | TNN

Sindri (Jharkhand): Three students of BIT Sindri were punished for ragging on Thursday. The authorities have barred three third semester students of production engineering — Ashutosh Tarun, Ashish Sharma and Rohit Barnwal — from entering the institute hostel for an indefinite period.

The three have also been banned from taking part in any academic activity, including attending classes and library, for 15 days. Besides, a fine of Rs 20,000 each has been imposed on them. Also, an FIR has been filed at the local police station.

According to Prof G Kumar, general warden of BIT Sindri, the three students had stopped freshers on way to their hostels and asked them to bow before every senior and walk with their bodies halfbent as a mark of respect.

However, the institute director, the general warden and six hostel superintendents happened to pass that way at that time and saw the act for themselves. They chased the three and caught them.

RAGGING MENACE

Three IIT-M students expelled from hostel for ‘misbehaving’ with juniors

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Three senior IIT (Madras) have been expelled from the hostel for a year for allegedly harassing juniors who joined the institution this academic year. “The students, all residents of the Alaknanda Hostel block, were identified as involved in misbehaviour with junior students. They were expelled last week,’’ a faculty member said on Monday.

Officially, authorities have chosen not to describe the incident as “ragging’’. They said the students had “misbehaved’’ with juniors, a subtle distinction made to spare them of a more severe punishment.

All three students were on August 18 directed to immediately vacate the hostel and find accommodation outside the campus. “The expelled students have been prohibited from visiting the hostel zone including dining halls during the period of expulsion. Also no other student including hostellers should entertain them in the hostel premises. Those found violating the order would also face disciplinary action,’’ the faculty member said. Besides, the expelled students stand disqualified from contesting for any positions in the students’ council and other bodies.

Meanwhile, to curb instances of ragging, the office of the IIT Madras dean (students) has issued a circular imposing a fresh set of restrictions regarding interaction between juniors and seniors. The notice has specifically warned senior students against summoning freshers to their hostel rooms. “All interactions with juniors can happen only in the common room in the presence of wardens, hostel council members or guidance and counselling unit coordinators during the time of roll call between 8.30 pm and 10.30 pm,’’ the circular said.

Authorities have warned of disciplinary action against senior students who defied the restrictions “even without

a complaint from freshers.” The dean has also advised first year students not to go to the rooms of senior students after the roll call at night.

C H Ravi Kiran, a students’ representative for hostel affairs, welcomed the restrictions. “Such measures help in curbing ragging. Restricting senior students from talking to freshers only in common areas and not inside rooms will serve as a deterrent as they know they are being watched. Such a move also induces confidence in the minds of juniors and they can interact with seniors freely,’’ he said.

Seniors thrash disabled student after he resisted stripping in Kerala school

Thiruvananthapuram: A disabled student of a polytechnic school in Kerala’s Thrissur district was cruelly beaten by his seniors when he opposed their attempts to strip him. Police on Monday arrested seven students after Nandkishore, who is hearing and speech impaired, revealed that he was ragged in his hostel. The incident came to light on Saturday when Nandkishore’s mother visited him in the hostel of Sreerama Polytechnic in Tripayar. Police, who made the arrests based on his mother’s complaint, said two members of CPM’s student outfit SFI are among those arrested. Nandkishore, a computer engineering diploma student, joined the school on August 19 under the quota for the disabled. The incident happened the next day. According to hismother’s complaint, a group of 10 students came to his room in the night and tried to strip him. They took off his shirt and dhoti, but he resisted when they tried to forcibly remove his underwear. He was then thrashed for resisting. The accused students were suspended after a preliminary inquiry. TNN

R’than univ cracks down on ragging

To Impose Rs 1 Lakh Fine, Rusticate Guilty

Kshitiz Gaur | TNN

Ajmer: Just before the new academic session starts, a Rajasthan university has taken a tough stand against ragging in accordance with the ruling of the Supreme Court, which had recently cracked down on the menace.

Ajmer’s Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati (MDS) University, which has about 250 colleges affiliated to it, has decided to not only rusticate anyone caught ragging but also fine him up to Rs 1 lakh. The minimum fine is Rs 25,000. The university has added the new rules and directions in its prospectus for the new academic session. It has also formed a committee to investigate and take action against colleges where cases of ragging are reported.

The Supreme Court on May 8 directed all state governments to constitute committees to look into the incidents of ragging and curb the menace. Passing a slew of directions to eradicate ragging from educational institutions across the country, a bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat said every college should have a psychiatrist to counsel students.

“We have gone through every aspect and condition of ragging and drafted rules to prevent ragging,” said Professor K C Sharma, convener of the prospectus committee of MDS university.

Cops in plain clothes to guard HP colleges
Shimla: To pre-empt ragging attempts, Himachal Pradesh CM Prem Kumar Dhumal on Thursday directed lawenforcing agencies to deploy police personnel in plain clothes at all higher education institutions in the state where fresh admissions are due. The move comes in the wake of three ragging incidents in the state over the past few months. At a meet, the CM called for maintaining effective checking at education institutions to curb entry of suspicious elements.

Man dies in ragging tiff
Madikeri: An alleged act of ragging claimed the life of a middle-aged man, who rushed to a Madikeri college campus on Thursday afternoon to sort out a squabble his ward allegedly had with bullying seniors. The police said Bharat went to the college seeking admission. But he was ragged and attacked by seniors. Humiliated, he called home. His father Vishwanath and uncle Raghunath Marla came charging to the campus and argued with the seniors. One of the students allegedly gave Raghunath a hard push. Raghunath lost balance, tottered and collapsed to the ground dead. TNN

UK schools hire muscles to tame pupils

Bouncers are being employed by schools to take classes when teachers are not available. One London school went to a doormen’s agency for “cover supervisors”, who watch over lessons when teachers are away, and gave jobs to two bouncers, one of whom is still at the school.

The National Union of Teachers conference in Cardiff heard that schools were advertising for cover supervisors with military or police experience. Andrew Baisley, a maths teacher at a secondary school in Camden, North London, told delegates that head teachers were hiring almost anyone provided they had been checked by the Criminal Records Bureau.

Cover supervisors hand out worksheets and make sure that children behave. They have no teacher training and work is set by a teacher who does not stay in the classroom, reported the Times.

Baisley said: “The idea is about crowd control and childminding. If they’re stern and loud, that’s what’s necessary to do the job.” The wage, half that of supply teachers, was an incentive for supervisors to be used, he told the Times.

In Birmingham an education recruitment agency posted an advert online saying: “Hard core cover supervisors needed now!” and offered £50 to £70 a day. It said: “Aspire People are on the hunt for dynamic, inspiring, hard core cover supervisors. You might be an ex-Marine, prison officer, bouncer, policeman, fireman, sportsman or actor. We need someone who thinks they can get involved in a school environment and control the kids.”

Baisley said: “I know of a school which went to an agency to employ bouncers. One ended up with a disciplinary issue within the first term. The bouncers were monitoring lessons. They were big guys who had no teaching experience.”

The school was a secondary in a “not particularly tough area”, he said. “Some adverts for cover supervisors ask for applicants with ex-military or police experience. I think there’s something questionable about thinking that is an appropriate skill for the classroom.”

Sarah McCarthy-Fry, the schools minister, said: “Heads should ensure that the people they employ have experience and training — and that checks are carried out. Cover supervision should only be a short-term solution.

“Pupils should continue their learning through pre-prepared lessons and exercises supervised by support staff with appropriate skills and training. It is up to heads to determine systems for cover in their schools.”

The behaviour expert Sir Alan Steer, asked by the Government to examine behaviour in schools, is to report this week that disruptive children should be removed to “withdrawal rooms” and taught in isolation. AGENCIES