Heads of government and private schools directed to keep a close watch on the behaviour of teachers

Updated on: Monday, December 31, 2012

In the wake of the recent incident of a teacher allegedly harassing a primary school student in T Narasipura, education department authorities are on alert. They are taking measures to check the recurrence of such incidents in schools of the district.

Deputy director of public instruction B K Basavaraju said that the heads of government and private schools have been directed to keep a close watch on the behaviour of teachers. This apart, the DDPI has also appealed to students to directly approach the block education officers concerned or the DDPI over telephone in case of harassment by any teacher or staff.

To ensure the safety of girl students, general instructions have been issued to the school staff to check unpleasant incidents. Mysore district has nearly 3,296 schools, including 2,258 government schools, in which about 3 lakh students -- 50% of whom are girls -- are studying, the DDPI explained.

Referring to T Narasipura-like incidents, Siddappa, father of a government school student, said such cases leave the parents of girl children panic-stricken. "Police and education officials should give a serious thought on the safety of girl students, especially in rural places. Even members of school development and monitoring committee must give priority to their safety. Siddappa's daughter, a Class VII student, is studying in a government school, some 15km from here.

Recently, a teacher was suspended for allegedly misbehaving with a Class VII girl of a government higher primary school near T Narasipura town in Mysore district. "The teacher has been accused of abusing the girl after the class hours last Saturday. An inquiry has been ordered into it," the DDPI added.

However, no police complaint has been registered as the girl's parents and education department authorities didn't file the complaint. "Even the girl's identity has not been revealed," a police officer said.

BEO (south block, Mysore city) Raghunandan confirmed that a general instruction has been issued by DDPI on this score. "We are taking measures to ensure the safety to girl students," he added.

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