Treat children as responsible, capable individuals: Educationists

PUNE: Even though Zilla Parishad and other public schools have seen a sharp decline in corporal punishment, the practice is still prevalent in private and English-medium schools, said Manjiri Nimbkar, director of the Kamla Nimbkar Balbhavan in Phaltan, while delivering a talk on ‘Towards fear-free learning,’ organised under the aegis of the five-year-old campaign A-Bhaya Abhiyaan at Nivara hall on Monday.“These days, corporal punishment is seen particularly in private and Englishmedium schools, where expectations from students are very high and they have to strive in a highly competitive academic environment,” Nimbkar said.
The talk, an effort to further propagate action against corporal punishment in schools, had Nimbkar and Sushma Sharma, director, the Anandniketan School in Vardha, emphasising on selfdiscipline, better communication, relevant changes in the school culture and enhancing self-respect among students. A teacher’s open-minded attitude can help students enjoy freedom as well as adhere to responsibilities, said Sharma. “Teachers have to create conducive atmosphere for learning by treating students as gifted individuals, understand their social and economic backgrounds, and facilitate communication on a levelplaying field. Involving students in the decision-making process helps them realise their responsibilities, which further helps curtail the need to met out corporal punishment,” she said.
Citing unconventional examples from her own school, Sharma stressed on teachers knowing the capabilities of each and every student. “It’s about moving away from stereotyped parameters for judging a child’s capabilities — like academic brilliance and competitiveness — because every child is unique. Offering opportunities for students in arts, crafts, sports and other extra-curricular activities, is equally important. Most importantly, guiding teachers effectively is the responsibility of the school principal,” she said.
In her talk, Nimbkar also drew attention towards children’s right to education. “The biggest challenge under this right is for schools, teachers and parents to make sure students remain in schools and continue their education. It’s important to make students feel important as self-respecting individuals and as integral components of the schooling process,” she said.
According to her, there are ways to lessen violence at school by curtailing students’ unruly behaviours. “Instilling self-discipline among students and encouraging timely interactions between them and teachers is a must. We’ve found ways to involve students in important things, like drawing up the exam time-table, division of work and activities, and initiating work from via the Bal Sansad,” said Nimbkar.
A-Bhaya Abhiyaan began as an initiative against corporal punishment at schools in 2006. The organisation has been conducting teacher training and awareness programmes on this issues in 20 schools across the state. “A change in the teachers’ attitude is evident. We’ve realised that teachers don’t want to met out corporal punishment on students, but are compelled to do so due to various factors like stress, deadlines and work overload. However, the very aim of training them is to make them sensitive towards children’s emotional and psychological needs, and create an environment that allows children to enjoy freedom as well as responsibility, minus any form of violence. What matters is proper guidance and giving vent to a student’s actual potential and aptitude,” said Milind Chavan, member, A-Bhaya Abhiyaan.