Punished by teacher – Aadya’s day at new school

            “Let’s just go home” sobbed my daughter.

It was the third or fourth day at the new school – her sixth school till date - and my wife had gone to pick up our elder daughter. But instead of the beaming angelic face of Aadya that my wife was used to seeing at the end of a long day, she saw a vision of a long-faced girl who was fighting her tears. Enquiries elicited the above reply before she burst into tears.

My wife spent another half minute in trying to figure out what was wrong without much success, and then took the young lady to the car parked in full June sun. After a few minutes, with the AC turned on and the school a few hundred meters away came the story, punctuated with sobs and tears.

She had been caned by her teacher. Since she was a late admission, she was not aware that her geography teacher had given lots of homework. She was one of thirty odd students who did not submit her homework, and they were all caned.

This was a first for my daughter. While she had faced scolding and even threats of being slapped, she was never actually given any form of physical punishment either at school or at home. Being beaten up by a teacher was unimaginable for her. Teachers in her previous school were very strict, but never resorted to physical punishments.

This happened while she was having a tough time adjusting to her new school. She vowed never to go back to this school, and kept crying incessantly and unconsolably for the rest of the evening and night.

This was all new for me. Due to frequent transfers in my job, changing schools has almost been a way of life for both my children. Aadya had long accepted this fate, and always made an effort to adapt. She always took time in making friends, and never had more than three or four friends with whom she interacted on a daily basis, but she knew everything about all the friends that she made. Similarly, she always tried to be the quiet girl in the class, till the time came to ask questions. She always waited to be given the opportunity, and then never hesitated to ask about all the problems she had in the subject. She formed her opinion of the teacher on basis of how the teacher responded to the fact that a question was asked, and on how well her question was answered. No student had ever beaten any student before that fateful day. She didn’t know how to process the information, and declared she wanted her old school, old city and old friends back.

Clearly, this was a parental emergency. We were aware that in the city that we had moved, being beaten up by parents, teachers and elders was quite common for many children, to the extent that many considered it to be a part of daily ritual. This, however, was not the time to reason out with my daughter. She was also insisting that she was unaware, being a new student, but the teacher just had not listened.  She felt wronged and humiliated. Clearly, in her mind, the entire blame rested with the teacher, and the new school to which the teacher belonged.

My wife offered to go to the school the very next day and talk to the teacher, which only resulted in fresh episode of wailing. Finally, over the next few hours, my wife was able to convince the young lady to try out the school for the next few weeks till the beginning of holidays, while she also promised to take up the matter with the appropriate authorities.

All this was done by my wife alone. Subsequent to my fresh posting, my wife had moved to our hometown where she had landed with a very lucrative job offer, while I had stayed behind. The complete account was conveyed to me in the evening.

On my part, I studied the guidelines and government instructions against the use of corporal punishments in schools, and drafted a strong complaint letter against the teacher. On my wife’s advice, I did speak about it with Aadya. I was worried.

Laden with the promise that she would not be forced to go to the school beyond the term, Aadya went to the school, albeit very reluctantly. My wife stayed behind to meet the Principal, who promptly received the application, assured her that such cases were aberrations and that my wife was right in bringing it to her notice. She also called up the teacher instantly.

It was her Geography teacher. According to my wife, she was a strict looking, well-spoken and well-mannered lady. She did not offer any excuses and apologised. My wife pointed out that the purpose was not actually to seek an apology but to ensure that such instances are not repeated, and that the student was not further singled out and victimised.

The teacher’s response was an interesting one. She first assured that there will be no singling out. Then she mentioned about parents who had beseeched her to beat up their children if they did not study well. Finally, she encouraged my wife to be prompt with genuine complaints in future, should there be any. At the same time, she assured my wife that in one year’s time, geography would be Aadya’s  most favourite subject.

With the passage of weeks, Aadya made a few new friends. She was surprised by new experiences when a teacher gave her a candy when she surprised him with the correct answer. She learnt many ways to trouble other students and teachers, and yet was never beaten up again. And when the term end tests were over, she declared that her previous school was the best school in the world, but her present school was quite different and a close second

She performed reasonably well in her exams. The results were given out during a PTM by the class teacher, and we were encouraged to meet other subject teachers in various class rooms. We realised that of all the subjects, she had scored the highest in Geography. When asked, she declared the Geography was her favourite subject, and that “Shalini Ma’am” was her favourite teacher.

We made it a point to convey the same to the Geography teacher in person, even though it meant that we had to wait for almost an hour to meet her.