Barbaric torture of a minor
There madrasa teachers in Dinajpur were arrested by police for alleged torture of a student accused of stealing on May 19. That a Class II student can be confined for three days and caned at a stretch and kept half-fed is something out of medieval times. Enlightenment, it seems, has not permeated some strata of the education system. Indeed, a 2008 UNICEF study pointed out that these are not stray incidents and nine out of ten students involved in the study claimed to have suffered one form of corporal punishment or the other.
If the study is anything to go by then we have a serious problem. A lack of child-friendly mindset is missing in the school or madrasa teaching system. We are paving the way for scarred minds of the next generation who will grow up to be less-than-productive adults in society. Corporal punishment is still taken recourse to for enforcing discipline despite its prohibition, which reflects a failure of enforcement of the law. The archaic practice is entrenched and it will take concerted and persistent efforts of education authorities, parents and teachers to treat corporal punishment with zero tolerance.
Until the ministry concerned gets involved in inspecting schools and takes effective disciplinary measures against teachers abusing children, there will be no improvement in the situation. In parallel, teachers need to be reoriented on how to better manage students that involves non-violent measures.
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