School boys tied to grill; beaten up by teacher

Puri: In an incident that has made a mockery of the ban on corporal punishment in schools, the teacher of a private school near Gopalpur Balighat on Puri-Konark road allegedly beat up two students after tying their hands to the iron grill of the school over some trivial matter yesterday.

Authorities of the School & Mass Education department have ordered an inquiry into the incident.

"I have asked the Block Education Officer (BEO) to conduct an inquiry over the matter. Action will be taken against the concerned teacher after the probe is over," District Education Officer (DEO)
Salila Sethy said.

"The Right to Education (RTE) has been implemented across the State according to which a school campus is punishment-free zone. We cannot punish the students in any form either mentally or physically," she added.

In Bhubaneswar, School and Mass Education minister Devi Mishra has asked the District Education Officer (DEO) for a report over the matter.

“I talked to the DEO over phone. BEO is already on the spot for investigation at Ramakrushna Vidyamandir, a privately managed school. The fact can only be revealed after the BEO completes the inquiry”, Mishra said.

“It is said that they were tied as they were trying to set a haystack on fire near the school. Some media persons visited the same village to cover a fire mishap and they snapped the photo of the students,” the minister pointed out.

The management of the Ramakrushna Vidyamandir has, however, maintained that the lady teacher only warned the students who were trying to set some science equipment on fire. There was no intention to punish them, the authorities said.