Dealing with Inattentive Students in the Absence of Corporal Punishment Under Right to Education – a Study on the Teachers of West Bengal

© 2018 IJRAR September 2018, Volume 5, Issue 3 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) Dealing With Inattentive Students In The Absence Of Corporal Punishment Under Right To Education – A Study On The Teachers Of West Bengal .

Palash Majumder,M.Ed scholar,IGNOU Vill- Uttar Rajapur,P.O-Mollabelia, P.S- Haringhata, Nadia

ABSTRACT: After a long time of implementing the Right to Education Act the goal of total elimination of corporal punishment is not achieved yet. The teachers are not fully aware about their duties and responsibilities for the total elimination of corporal punishment. The teachers do not possess the capacity, the skills or the knowledge to make the students attentive towards their classes without using any punitive method. The present study makes an effort to understand the level of knowledge and sincerity of the teachers of West Bengal towards the use of methods suggested by the NCPCR to avoid corporal punishment in school and also about their perception regarding the corporal punishment in this present situation. The study also makes an effort to suggest some steps which can be helpful for the creation of an ideal classroom free from any types of punishment.

KEY WORDS: inattentive students, corporal punishment, dealing with

INTRODUCTION:

In India the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which has come into force with effect from 1 April 2010, prohibits ‘physical punishment’ and ‘mental harassment’ under Section 17(1) and makes it a punishable offence under Section 17(2). These provisions are as follows: 17. Prohibition of physical punishment and mental harassment to child – (1) No child shall be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment.

(2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be liable to disciplinary action under the service rules applicable to such person.

Sections 8 and 9 of the RTE Act place a duty on the appropriate Government and the local authority to “ensure that the child belonging to weaker section and the child belonging to disadvantaged group are not discriminated against and prevented from pursuing and completing elementary education on any grounds”. The RTE Act does not preclude the application of other legislation that relates to the violations of the rights of the child, for example, booking the offenses under the IPC and the SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act of 1989. Again according to the Article 21 of the Constitution of India which protects the right to life and dignity includes the right to education for children up to 14 years of age, Corporal punishment amounts to abuse and militates against the freedom and dignity of a child. It also interferes with a child’s right to education because fear of corporal punishment makes children more likely to avoid school or to drop out altogether. Hence, corporal punishment is violation of the right to life with dignity. Article 39(e) directs the State to work progressively to ensure that “… the tender age of children are not abused”. There are other various laws like - The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 etc which bars the use of corporal punishment inside or outside school compound. Now there was view that as the RTE,2009 is relevant for only up to the upper primary level, corporal punishment can be used after that in the secondary

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© 2018 IJRAR September 2018, Volume 5, Issue 3 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) or senior secondary level. But the above constitutional provisions shows that the use of corporal punishment is not at all possible at any level of education in India. Therefore the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has developed a guideline on how to eliminate corporal punishment in schools. The guideline shows various ways to eliminate or reduce corporal punishment from schools. Some of them are-

But are these guidelines being followed in the Indian schools? If followed, how far they are authentic and what is the level of sincerity among the teachers who are following them? What is the way forward for the total elimination of corporal punishment? The present study is an attempt to reflect on these questions.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY : The main objectives of the present paper is to have a clear idea about the present state of corporal punishment in West Bengal in respect of- a) How far the teachers are convinced about total elimination of corporal punishment? b) How far the guideline of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to eliminate the corporal punishment is followed in the schools of West Bengal. c) What is the way out for the proper implementation of absolute elimination of corporal punishments from the schools and how to address the problem of inattentiveness of the learners without using corporal punishment?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: For the present study survey method was adopted. POPULATION AND SAMPLE : The present study was carried out in the Nadia District in the state of West Bengal. There are about 434 Government sponsored secondary and higher secondary schools in Nadia District following the West Bengal Board of secondary education syllabus and come under the purview of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR). Among these 434 schools twenty schools were randomly selected from the Government sponsored schools list under the Kalyani subdivision of Nadia district. Ten schools were from urban areas like Kalyani, Goyeshpur and Haringhata Municipality and the rest ten schools were from the rural areas like Haringhata and Chakdaha Block. From each of these schools ten teachers were selected making the total population 200.Among these 200 teachers 100 were female teachers and the rest 100 were Male teachers. TOOLS USED: For the collection of Data a simple tool was devised in the form of a questionnaire with only three questions for the teachers of the Government sponsored schools. The questionnaire was not validated as it was only for a survey purpose only to know the present condition of corporal punishment in the schools of West Bengal. The questions were-  Do you believe that sometimes it is necessary to smack an inattentive child ? Yes/No  Do you know the full form of WBCPCR ? Yes/No  What is your suggestion regarding the corporal punishment for the inattentive children?

DATA COLLECTION : Data was collected during the orientation programmes of the teachers from the Kalyani subdivision. The questionnaire was distributed and the data were collected through the Resource persons of these orientation programmes held at different venues under the kalyani subdivision. DATA ANALYSIS :

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After collection the data were analyzed using various methods. The data collected through the questionnaire were analyzed using percentage. Again the collected data were also analyzed through content analyzing method. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY: The main aim of the study was to find out the present day attitude and the outlook of the teachers of the government sponsored schools of West Bengal regarding the elimination of corporal punishment. The questions were formed in such a way that their answers would easily reveal one’s real viewpoint regarding the corporal punishment. The first question was a direct one. But the second question was formed with an intention. The teachers were asked to write the full form of WBCPCR. The teachers who are concerned about the proper implementation of total elimination of corporal punishment must know the name of the agency which is overseeing it in West Bengal, that is the WBCPCR or the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights. And those teachers who are not aware about the WBCPCR must not be serious about the total elimination of corporal punishment according to the rules and regulations of the WBCPCR. To be sure about the attitude of the teachers about their viewpoints on the corporal punishment the third question was formed in an open ended way where the teachers were asked to express their own views regarding the corporal punishment for the inattentive students and suggest a way out. The answers of the teachers will reveal their attitude towards the total elimination of corporal punishment. Whether they totally agree with the idea of abolishing corporal punishment or they want to continue with the time tested and inexhaustible corporal punishment to control their students or they want something in between of these two. Their suggestions will also focus on the procedure of dealing with the inattentive students. The findings of the survey brought out some interesting facts.

The major findings of the study are-  A whopping 168 or 84 percent of the 200 teachers were in favour of occasional smacking of inattentive children.

Q.1. Do you believe that sometimes it is necessary to smack an inattentive child ?

YES NO

Fig-01

 Among the teachers who believe that occasionally corporal punishment may be used,87 percent were female and 81 percent were male teachers.

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88% 86% 84% 82% 80% 78% 76% Male Female Teachers Teachers

Fig-02  Those teachers who believe that corporal punishment is necessary 51 percent are from the rural area and 49 percent are from the urban area .

49% 51%

Urban area Rural area Teachers Teachers

Fig-03

 From the question no 2 it is found that most of the teachers who believes that corporal punishment is necessary do not know the full form of WBCPCR or about it. And the teachers who know about the WBCPCR are aware about the consequences of using corporal punishment and try not to use them. Almost all of them also agreed on the opinion regarding the abolishment of corporal punishment. The following graph shows a comparison-

120% 100% 80% 60% 40% Knows about WBCPCR 20% Don't know about WBCPCR 0% On behalf of Against corporal corporal punishment punishment

Fig-04  The answers of the third question were of much interest as the question was an open ended question. A variety of answer came out as answers. But interestingly those who were against the corporal punishment were of the view that though they are against it a more mobilized, integrated and self motivated system is required to implement it properly. Those who were for the corporal punishment were of the view that fear, though in a small amount should be there among the learners for the proper transaction of day to day teaching learning process. They also blame government for

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eliminating corporal punishment. They are of the view that it is totally eroding the whole education system. They have also suggested a way out. If the corporal punishment has to be totally eliminated there must be proper invigilation from the designated authorities who will not only monitor the process but also help the teachers to eliminate it through positive intervention and other modern scientific ways. The very mind set up of the teachers must be changed towards corporal punishment through regular communication with the teachers. There must be a data trove where the data regarding the corporal punishments should be stored and analyzed so that the use of it is reduced and abolished in a time bound manner.

If there is no corporal punishment then how to deal with the inattentive children. There were also suggestions for this problem in the answers of the third question as the teachers were asked for suggestion. The suggestions that came out were-  First of all the enforcement of consequence must be reduced as there is no way to judge inattentiveness accurately.  To effectively manage a classroom, there must be a line. The line must precisely indicate what does and doesn’t constitute breaking rules so they can be enforced fairly and accurately. The rules of the classroom must be clear and easy to understand and easy to implement. There must be a clear cut line after which it slows down the class or disrupts the class should be looked upon as a rule is broken.  Never a consequence should be enforced—unless the behavior in question is disruptive or potentially disruptive.  A student cannot be forced to listen. A teacher can teach it, encourage it, inspire it, ingrain it, and stress its importance. It is the primary job of a teacher to create compelling lessons and to speak in a way that students want to listen and pay attention. Actually the responsibility falls on the teachers for creating an atmosphere where the students will be nothing but attentive. A lack of interest and inattentiveness means the teachers need to step up their games. The teachers who are still using corporal punishments are actually hiding from their responsibilities and their failure to create an ambience of positivity.

CONCLUSION :

As most of the schools are under the state Governments in West Bengal, there is no centralized data on the corporal punishment. No one also cares about collecting any data regarding the corporal punishment. The West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) acts only when there is some complaint. There is no provision or infrastructure for the commission to act or monitor corporal punishment in a self motivated way. Therefore the teachers are interpreting it in their own way. This causes for the harassment for the learners. The bad effects of corporal punishment is taking its toll on the young learners in the forms of drop out and lower motivation and lower capacity building among the learners. This must be stopped.

REFERENCES:

1. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2014/09/17/poll-results-punishment 2. https://albania.savethechildren.net/sites/albania.savethechildren.net/files/library/Parents'%20Beliefs %20About%20Corporal%20Punishment%20of%20Children.pdf 3. http://www.mhinnovation.net/sites/default/files/downloads/innovation/tools/Attitudes%20toward%2 0Corporal%20Punishment%20Questionnaire.pdf 4. http://www.ncpcr.gov.in/view_file.php?fid=108

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5. http://righttoeducation.in/forums/suggest-rte-amendments/section-17-prohibition-of-physical- punishment-and-mental-harassment-to-child 6. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/good-governance/centre/Govt-takes-all-steps-to-check-corporal- punishment/articleshow/53266371.cms

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