The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Complaint cell's Day One rings with students' calls

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 28, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Complaint cell's Day One rings with students' calls

Meera Srinivasan

The phone number is 28273591

CHENNAI : The complaint cell, set up by the State Education Department, may be just a day old. But officials are already getting calls from students, claiming to encounter various problems at school.

The complaint cell (Number: 044-28273591), functional since Monday morning, received 11 calls on the first day, prompting "immediate action".

Following a series of untoward incidents in schools reported recently, School Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu decided to set up a complaint cell where students could voice their problems.

Officials said complaints ranged from corporal punishment to lack of drinking water and poor infrastructure in their schools. An attendant was assigned to take the calls, make note of the details in a register and inform officials who, in turn, would act case-by-case immediately and do the needful.

Letters were issued to Chief Educational Officers (CEOs) and District Educational Officers (DEOs) of various districts, instructing them to inform school heads about the cell. Heads of schools were in turn expected to address students during the morning assembly and inform them of the facility. Complaints can also be sent by fax to 28232580 or e-mailed to jdssed@tn.nic.in.

Child protection programme

Aruna Rathnam, Project Officer (Education) of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, said the complaint cell was only part of what the State Government proposed to do. The UNICEF has been supporting the State Government in the implementation of the HIV programme for students.

She told The Hindu that the State Education Department was considering a long-term child protection programme. UNICEF was one of the organisations supporting the department in the endeavour.

"The aim is to work on a conducive learning atmosphere, without infringing on children's rights," she said. Consultative meetings with teacher unions and parent-teacher associations were being held in different parts of the State.

Last month has been a disturbing patch for the Education Department. With cases of alleged corporal punishment, abuse and torture cropping up, several non-governmental organisations organised awareness rallies and workshops for teachers.

However, speaking to psychologists of the 1098 child helpline service revealed such complaints were not new. "Quite a few students call us complaining of being beaten up at school. Some children also share instances of sexual abuse or physical torture at their schools," said a psychologist.

The 1098 helpline, available in 72 cities and towns across the country, has been functional for over a decade now.

And it is not surprising to find such calls being made, when practices like this are prevalent.

The parent of a child going to a government-aided school in T. Nagar, said children, who came late, were made to sweep the floor.

"My daughter came home crying. Lifting the benches and sweeping the room were too strenuous for her," the parent said.

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