India school head kills boy who answered back

britexpat
By britexpat

Independent..

An 11-year-old boy has been beaten to death by his headmaster in the Indian state of Bihar – the third child to be beaten to death by a teacher in India this year.

Gyan Ranjan, who had been a pupil at Holy Mission Children's Academy in Rajepur for just over a month, died last Friday after he was punished for answering back to one of his teachers.

The school initially tried to cover up the murder and claimed Gyan had committed suicide. However, local villagers became suspicious and alerted the boy's family.

Police begun a murder investigation following a complaint from the boy's father, and the headteacher, Uday Kumar Sharan, along with two other teachers, has since gone into hiding.

Many children's rights campaigners believe reported deaths are merely 'the tip of the iceberg' and that severe physical abuse is endemic in Indian schools.

In January, a 15-year-old Delhi girl, Rinki Kaushik, was beaten with a stick by a teacher for refusing to take extra tuition. She sustained serious head injuries and never regained consciousness. She died in hospital three months later.

In July, a 16-year-old Dalit (low caste) boy, Surjit Singh, died after he was thrashed by an upper caste teacher in a school in the mountain state of Himachal Pradesh. His 'crime' had been to write a poem for an upper caste girl. According to a classmate who witnessed the attack, he was caned until "he almost dropped dead". He died later in hospital.

Teachers in India say they struggle to cope with classes of up to 80 and have to resort to corporal punishment to keep order. "Teachers in these schools treat the children like commodities to be treated as they like," says Mr Ribhu. "They are entrusted with our children. In cases like these, teachers should be severely dealt with to set an example."

By britexpat• 18 Sep 2008 03:50
britexpat

Funny, you should mention that.. Only read an article about it yesterday in the Guardian..

Over 100,000 cases of rape, murder, arson and other abuses against Dalits are reported in India each year.

Human Rights Watch confirms that police officers have been guilty of detaining, torturing and extorting money from Dalits.

These abuses are not happening in apartheid-era South Africa. They are occurring, with virtual impunity, in modern-day India – the world’s largest democracy and an emerging economic superpower.

India’s 170 million Dalit people, formerly known as “untouchables,” are at the bottom of the Hindu caste system. They are victims of the most extreme form of caste discrimination. It is, in many ways, analogous to racism. By virtue of their birth into a Dalit family and community, they are condemned forever to a life of social stigma, exclusion and victimisation.

By QT• 18 Sep 2008 01:26
QT

...removal of the caste system!

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:50
anonymous

Nothing wrong with a good old thrashing with a belt......the wounds inflicted make a great conversation topic in later life!

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:47
anonymous

oryx, I said "if you intend to punish a child physically". It's a big difference if you intend to "help and support" a child. And finally, if two 12 Graders (18 years or more in Qatar) fight, I will not risk my life. I wait until they bleed, then the school calls the police and both go to jail.

By vickyk1• 17 Sep 2008 23:43
vickyk1

although..I feel like I just got spanked by alexa..

By vickyk1• 17 Sep 2008 23:42
vickyk1

no spankings today needed....

By Oryx• 17 Sep 2008 23:41
Oryx

Alexa if it were me i would just let the lads thrash each other... just walk away...

because of the restraint issue...

you can't even put a hand on a student's shoulder..

it is so frustrating when you have some kid sobbing and you can't comfort them... its awful

today i said i was tired after class and one of the girls put her arm around me and was chatting to me and then another one on the other side...

it was really nice... much better here.

By vickyk1• 17 Sep 2008 23:40
vickyk1

Sorry, no rudeness meant..BUT..please feel free to call me Vic or anything else :)

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:40
anonymous

Bye, Alexa.

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:34
anonymous

you want me to spank you, vicky? Why??

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:33
anonymous

Alex, I bet you were a beautiful child and teachers must have loved you.

By vickyk1• 17 Sep 2008 23:33
vickyk1

Do as Alex says......

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:30
anonymous

Alex, vicky spoke to you.

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:29
anonymous

This Website, Alex, is filled with methods to correct misbehavior. Have a look.

http://www.disciplinehelp.com/teacher/

And to answer your question: it's useless. And it's not wanted by serious school administrations. They feel it as a breech of contract with the customers (parents). They don't pay to have their children staying out of class.

By vickyk1• 17 Sep 2008 23:27
vickyk1

I will spank her parents!!!

By Xray• 17 Sep 2008 23:25
Xray

MagicDragon you are absolutely right that its not TEACHER job to teach mannarim to the studaent... this is direct responsibilty of PARENTS to teach manners but this will not give full authority to TEACHER that he can punish the student up to unbearable extent.... keep in mind i am not against punishment... it plays a vital role to teach discipline but at the same time there should be some check also on the teacher...

By aasimzzz• 17 Sep 2008 23:23
aasimzzz

back when i was at school, we got beat often...with canes if the reason was 'big enough'. some of the teachers also resorted to 'torture tactics' like putting a pen between two fingers and pressing real hard, whilst maintaining eye contact...i suppose this was a little severe, but it did harden me at-least. nowadays, if a teacher touches a kid at the same school i went to, he's done for! i suppose some form of middle ground needs to be found, punishment can take other forms, and the message can be sent...but all this 'beaten to death' stuff is horrific. the teachers should be taken to court, and sentenced to life imprisonment, which is prolly worse than the death penalty!

the world's never been like this, we are the age people will talk about many years from now.

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:23
anonymous

who else is here that I can tickle, Alex? No sense of humor anymore?

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:21
anonymous

Alex, sure, if you deal with toddlers you may touch them to help or assist them. But if you intend to punish someone physically you are simply breaking a Human Rights Law. The body is untouchable. (Koerperliche Unversehrtheit).

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:17
anonymous

vicky, as I said it before, no. Call her parents and make it clear to them that they failed horribly.

By vickyk1• 17 Sep 2008 23:17
vickyk1

I think you over generalize...BUT..agree that teachers are not all the time safe in the classroom.

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:16
anonymous

Xray, what is the obligation of the parents then? They send their trash to the school and hope it comes out bright and shiny? I am a "Subject Teacher". If the students have no manners I do not see it being my task to teach them this!

By Oryx• 17 Sep 2008 23:15
Oryx

When i was a kiddy at primary school in Scotland we got the strap if we were naughty

We knew we deserved it.

I am not advocating that system again but you want your kids educated... other students render that impossible or minimal due to their behaviour....

By vickyk1• 17 Sep 2008 23:12
vickyk1

should I spank Alex....

By Xray• 17 Sep 2008 23:12
Xray

you are right but i think everywhere Parents always put emphasis on their children to pass exams... in this situation we are not discussing the children and their parents BUT the teachers... its a prime responsiblity of a teacher to educte the child not only as per Syllabus but as per ethics also... In this case it is very much obvious that TEACHER needs to learn how to educate the child...

By nadt• 17 Sep 2008 23:11
nadt

I dont agree SN, you dont need to slap a child on the hand or whatever to discipline. We all have different levels of what we dee an acceptable form of discipline. Vicky is right discipline should be handled at home not school. Teachers can use timeout methods or any other method , certainly not physical punishment. I dont pay fees for my son to be physically punished, especially if i dont accept this in my home.

By Oryx• 17 Sep 2008 23:11
Oryx

Vicky that is very idealistic... a lot of teaching in the UK now is just mopping up after bad parenting....

and as super said teachers are not safe from students...

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 23:06
anonymous

What are you talking about, Alex? No teacher should ever have the right to touch a child at all!!

By vickyk1• 17 Sep 2008 23:00
vickyk1

should be handled at home not at school

By britexpat• 17 Sep 2008 22:42
britexpat

It is cultural also.. Parents in developing nations put great emphasis on children passing exams and being the best in class.

However, the issue here is not the children, but the behaviour of the teacher.

i agree with superNurse that discipline is neccesary, but it can be achieved in various ways.

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 22:38
anonymous

teachers aren't safe from the students though! Not a bad idea to weed out the thickos especially when there's 80 of the buggers!!

By Xray• 17 Sep 2008 22:35
Xray

this is also a case that TEACHERS efficiency is indexed by the outcome of the result.. higher the number of student passed exams mmore efficient teacher is...

By vickyk1• 17 Sep 2008 22:31
vickyk1

when teachers even look crossly at children in public schools they get disciplined.. It presents a problem for behavior in schools, but at least children are safe..at least from teachers

By vickyk1• 17 Sep 2008 22:24
vickyk1

Take care of this head master as Gen. Dostum would have..

By Xray• 17 Sep 2008 22:23
Xray

INDIA wants to enhance literacy rate and it seesm that they want it at any cost...

By anonymous• 17 Sep 2008 22:18
anonymous

they should do this to the brats in the UK, that'll stop them and make them do their homework instead of drinking alcopops and sniffing glue!!!.....Good old discipline I say.......;)

By nadt• 17 Sep 2008 22:15
nadt

Im with you Alexa, whats wrong with these people, killing and beating children, thats obscene, why are they allowed to get away with this crap.

We arent that far off here, my neighbours son was slapped on his hand by a worker at his nursery for not listening, hes only three. Im surprised my neighbour didnt address this, its disgusting.

By britexpat• 17 Sep 2008 22:07
britexpat

Strange.. we joke about stoning people for disregarding petty laws and yet we never seem to stand up and address real issues where innocent lives are taken..

What hypocrits we all are!

By Harry99• 17 Sep 2008 21:46
Harry99

Now this man should be put to death....Imagine your child going to school and never coming back..

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