19 Feb 2017 | 03:22am IST
School has terminated teacher’s services soon after incident
Management says this has been the only incident in the school; advisory issued to teachers not to indulge in corporal punishment
PANJIM: Even as the Goa Children’s Court pronounced a year’s jail term to a preschool teacher on charges of physically and mentally abusing a child, the school management had disassociated itself from the teacher’s activity by terminating her services the very same month.
Herald spoke to the school management that confirmed terminating the teacher’s services after a preliminary inquiry ascertained she allegedly beat the boy, who was two and half years of age at the time of the incident in February 2012.
“The victim child’s parent complained to us that she (teacher) beat the boy in the classroom. We summoned the teacher and issued a ‘memo’ asking for an explanation but she denied ill-treating the child. The management, however, decided to terminate her services after we found marks on his face (as a result of the physical abuse),” a senior management official told this reporter.
The five-year-old incident is still fresh in the minds of the preschool authorities, who thereafter issued strict instructions to the staff to refrain from resorting to corporal punishment. “The case was the first and the last in the preschool records till date. After this incident, we issued an advisory asking the teachers not to indulge in corporal punishment. This warning is repeated in every meeting,” she claimed.
According to the prosecution the teacher has decided to appeal the order in the High Court of Bombay at Goa. The official, who had herself inquired into the episode, said there was little time to understand her behaviour as the teacher was barely 4 to 5 months in the school. “There was no complaint from any parent against her until this incident came to the fore. This was the first and the last case, and we acted promptly to ensure our students and their parents are not wary about safety,” she added.
Herald tried speaking to some parents, who have their children enrolled in the playschool but none were willing to discuss the matter. “We are not aware of the incident. My child was enrolled just last year and she is happy with the teachers and her friends here,” one of them said, refusing to be named.
The victim’s family is content with the juvenile court’s order and have ensured their son does not recall the incident. “Doctors have advised that my son should not remember this dark past. He has already gone through the trauma,” the victim’s parent told Herald.
