I was visiting a primary school in India today. The school goes from 1st standard (about 5 years old) to 4th standard (about 8 years old). Though in this school, some of the students in some of the classes are a bit older. There are about 160 kids in the school. The school has two parallel classes. 1A and 1B, 2A and 2B, 3A and 3B, 4A and 4B. But 4A and 4B are taught together. The A groups are Malayalam medium, the B groups are English medium. Class sizes range from about 15 to about 30.
The school is an aided school. It is managed by the church but the salaries are paid by the government. The students pay no fees to come to the school. There are a couple of nuns from the convent who teach at the school. The headmistress is not a nun. She has no budget control (the church pays for the upkeep of the buildings, the government pays the staff). She has no ability to hire or fire teachers (transfers are arranged centrally, firing of staff almost never happens). She has no discretion about promotions or pay scales (your pay grade increases based on years of service).
There was an assembly this morning. (There is one of about 5 or 10 minutes every morning.)
The whole school is lined up on the school ground, a few students run things (students from different classes each day). They do some praying, some chanting, some exercise, read some news, ask some questions. Sometimes there is an announcement from a member of staff.
At the end of the assembly the students walk in lines back to their classrooms where they do quiet reading before the first teaching period of the day.
Today’s assembly was a bit different.
At the end of the assembly the headmistress called a student over to her (this is in front of the rest of the school, while some classes were heading back to their rooms). She spoke to the student and then caned him. On the shins. He was crying. He bent double and tried to pull away but she is much bigger than he is. She pulled him back to her again and hit him again on his bare legs.
Another student was called over and the same thing happened. In this case, the student was wearing long trousers. He was caned on his thighs.
I was visiting the volunteer who is currently teaching in the school. We stood back watching this. I left fingernail marks in the palms of my hands I was clenching my fists so tightly.
I wanted to run over and hug the kids. I wanted to rip the cane away from the head teacher and burn it. I wanted to face the nun who was watching this and cry to her in anguish. I wanted to jump on a bus and leave. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry.
I did none of these things.
I stood there. I walked with the volunteer back to the office. It was the first time she’d seen a teacher cane a child in the school. She knew it might happen. But she hadn’t yet seen it.
She has seen a teacher give a child a gentle (?!) slap to the side of the head as a response to the child fighting in class. Yes, that message is clear. To show you how much we dislike physical violence in class I am going to slap you. (Sorry, I’ll put my sarcasm away now.)
I have seen children being caned a few times in schools. It hurts me. I don’t know what to do about it.
I know that corporal punishment is prevalent here and in Sri Lanka. I know that it used to be prevalent in the UK and Australia. I know that all four of those countries have signed up to the UN convention on the Rights of the Child, which says that children should be protected from all forms of violence and bad treatment (article 19) and that school discipline should respect the dignity of the child (article 28).
I also know that caning students is one small part of the reason why Indian schools are sometimes not safe, friendly places for students. Teachers cane students here. They also ignore them. Yell at them. Insult them. Dismiss them. Belittle them. Lie to them. Teachers leave children unsupervised for hours at a time. Teachers sleep at their desks while the students do whatever it is that students do when a teacher is sleeping at the desk. Teacher absenteeism is incredibly high. Sometimes teachers make arrangements amongst themselves so that one of the 3rd standard classes (for example) can take a few days off and the other teacher will teach both third standard classes together. The next week they may swap. Students are not praised. Students are not encouraged. In many cases students are not taught anything. It is in this context that students are being caned by teachers.
Not all teachers are like this. Some are dedicated professionals. Many, possibly most, are not.
I struggle. I am a guest in this country, in this culture and in this school. Caning students is culturally acceptable here. In some cases it is a student who brings a cane to me and suggests I use it to hit another student who has misbehaved. The teachers seem to see this as perfectly normal. Parents don’t seem to object. I need to be careful about how I can challenge this (if I challenge it at all).
But this is child abuse. And it is wrong. I do not want to be someone who stands by and does nothing.
I could remove myself from the school and never come back. I don’t have to come here. I have a choice. I’m not breaching a commitment or breaking a promise if I leave. But that doesn’t seem like the right thing to do either.
As usual, I think education is the key. I need to work out how I can explain to the staff that violence towards children should be seen to be unacceptable (because it is unacceptable). I need to work out a way to explain how positive classroom management and behaviour management can help teach children respect and discipline without the use of fear and violence. I need to work out a way to explain that being non-violent at school is so very important here particularly because this community is one in which many of these children will experience violence in the home (poverty, alcohol, inequalities between men and women and dowries do not contribute to a peaceful family life).
In the meantime, I take as much positivity, support, empathy and compassion into the schools as I can. I hope the very, very little that I can do can make some difference.
