Madras HC directs state to address student psychological welfare

Justice MV Muralidharan of the Madras High Court has issued directions to the state to provide for student psychological assessment and counselling services in schools, in the interest of student welfare..The Court was prompted to direct the same after taking note of the rise in student suicides in the state..The case at hand emerged from a penalty imposed on a government school teacher for allegedly using abusive words and beating up students, in addition to having absented himself from work without authorisation..The state authority had ordered the stoppage of increments to the teacher for three years. On appeal, this penalty was confirmed by the concerned authorities in the Education Department..The teacher had filed a writ petition in the High Court to set aside the same, contending that natural justice principles were not adhered to throughout the course of disciplinary proceedings. The Court agreed with the petitioner, noting that,.“…the facts disclose that the enquiry officer and the authority imposing punishment have acted improperly..A perusal of the records would show that the petitioner was not allowed to cross examine the students. The contents of the complaint were not authenticated or cross-verified. The enquiry officer has also not furnished all depositions made by the witnesses. Apart from that the respondents have without properly appreciating the views independently have verbatim accepted the findings.”.For this reason, the impugned orders punishing the petitioner for his alleged conduct were set aside..The Court also made some pertinent observations regarding contemporary problems arising out of the student-teacher dynamic today..At the outset, it noted that the case touched upon a somewhat delicate issue..“This Court is now to decide on an issue which has to be described as ‘delicate’. I am using the words ‘delicate’ because this matter has brought to light the issues that have started creeping up in today’s educational system between the teachers and students. The manner teachers behave and the way the students behave are essentially to be looked into by this Hon’ble Court since the children are the future leaders of our nation.”.The judge opined that it is no longer acceptable that children be disciplined through archaic measures involving verbal abuse or manhandling..“Let it be parents or teachers, they ought not to abuse or threaten or manhandle young children.”.It was observed that while the use of such measures may have been prevalent earlier, children at the time would not take it seriously, unlike children today..“The children [today] have access to worldly things in a click of a mouse or touching their smart phone. They have started taking the scolding’s of teachers personally. They react immediately. There has to be a solution found for this problem.”.The judge made these remarks while referring to recent student suicides in the state, which were attributed to the harsh behaviour of school teachers..“In the last few months, our State has witnessed shocking cases of suicides by young school children since they were reprimanded by teachers. This Court has verified the details from news dailies and it has been brought to light that 6 young girls have committed suicide and died as their teachers have reprimanded them for not performing their duties properly. This shows that the young children’s minds are very sensitive and they have resorted to taking their lives by themselves.”.Hence, the Court felt that it was constrained to issue the following directions in interest of the psychological welfare of students:.The Secretary to Government, School Education Department shall constitute a Committee headed by the Director of School Education, the respective District Chief Educational Officers, renowned academicians and psychiatrics. The said committee shall assess broadly the psychological issues the young students face today in schools and identify the same.Upon identifying the issues and problems faced by these students in School, then there shall be dedicated counselling and orientation programme conducted for all school teachers and students throughout the State.The Teachers shall be appropriately advised and instructed how to effectively handle the children who are sensitive without using any abusive techniques.