BHUBANESWAR: The School and Mass Education Department has ordered an administrative inquiry into the hospitalisation of a 15- year-old girl student of Kandhamal district after she was allegedly handed out corporal punishment. The student, Haripriya Meher, is undergoing treatment at the SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack. She apparently lost consciousness frequently after the incident which had allegedly occurred in July. Secretary, School and Mass Education Department Aparajita Sarangi said, soon after the matter came to light, an inquiry was ordered. “We will take immediate action after the report is placed before me. Corporal punishment has no place in schools,” she said. According to reports, Haripriya, a Class X student of Bisipada High School, had been asked to do sit-ups 200 times by the school headmaster as she forgot to bring her mathematics notebook to the class on July 12. After 150 sit-ups, she could not take the strain and allegedly fainted. The headmaster allegedly caned her for that. However, when she returned home, she lost consciousness several times, her family members alleged before the district education authorities. She was admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital at Phulbani but it did not help and the family sought medical help at another hospital before she was taken to VSS Medical College in Burla last month. That too was of no help as she suffered from joint pain and other problems. Haripriya’s family shifted her to SCB Medical on October 10 where they are seeking expert opinion on her condition. According to Right to Education Act, corporal punishment is prohibited in the schools. Besides, before the Act came into existence, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik too had ordered a ban on such kind of punishment on students in schools. The matter has been brought to the notice of Board of Secondary Education too.
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