- Indisputably, the schools and colleges or for that matter any portals of learning should be providing students seeking to acquire knowledge a sense of security, belonging, a welcoming atmosphere, and most importantly, a conducive environment to pursue what they chose wholeheartedly. Not for nothing, it is mentioned that teachers are next only to gods who hold tremendous sway over not only transforming the impressionable students with thought-provoking pedagogy but also showing the way to emerge as conscientious citizens helping the cause of the nation.
PC: The Risers Team
- No wonder, teachers are held in very high esteem in society duly accorded with a very special place for the role they essay in sculpting the future generations. However, the present-day environment is far from being labeled as an ideal situation as several extraneous factors define the school education having witnessed metaphorical transformations over the years. You know, modernity-defined education largely embraces mind-boggling technological advances keeping in line with the changing times. As the aspirational society wishes to move ahead synchronously resonating with what is happening around them, the present-day youngsters wish to stay in the so-called race and be counted irrespective of affordability questions.
- Needless to mention, the class division largely identified with having and have-nots remains a dominating factor in the country. Of course, the youngsters are bound to get sucked into the vortex of peer pressure sooner than later bringing along challenges of their own. As such, it is extremely important to identify, address, and counsel students by guiding them in the right direction. Easier said than done though as several challenges present themselves here. One such challenge for the student community is to contend with the still prevalent menace of bullying. Here, the schools have a profound role in ensuring the menace is addressed before it is too late.
PC: Mphpl
- Sadly, a recent incident in Faridabad where a teenage student committed suicide severely indicts how inadequate our education system is in tackling this issue. Note that the mother of the deceased says she made repeated complaints to the school authorities, and all of these were ignored. Other children mentally and physically tormented the student for various factors that set him apart is a classic case of bullying. Unfortunately, teachers who refused to take serious note of such behavior to speak to a more culpable shirking of the responsibility to ensure that schools are safe environments for children. A 2014 survey showed that only 3% of private schools in Delhi-NCR having counselors, as against the CBSE guidelines requiring at least one full-time counselor per school, was very telling too.
- This makes teachers the default stand-in but without proper training, they cannot deliver either. The instant case is indicative at best of a penchant for misreading seriously hurtful behavior as harmless, and at worst of active negligence. Moreover, another thing experts emphasize is that suicide comes at the end of a complex pathway of factors. This makes the arrest of the school headmistress for abetment of suicide in the present case questionable. The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 recognized that attempt to suicide is not a crime, both logically and medically driving people to suicide should not be a crime either. Indian schools are crying for structural protections against bullying and fixing accountability for excesses is also important. Sadly, populist scapegoating is a poor substitute and does little to prevent a recurrence of the present tragedy.
