The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday informed the Supreme Court that child rights protection agencies like Childline, Muskan, and HAQ have been roped in to provide counselling to a seven-year-old Muslim child who was repeatedly slapped by his classmates on the orders of their teacher at a Muzaffarnagar private school.
Appearing before a Bench headed by Justice A.S. Oka, Uttar Pradesh Additional Advocate General Garima Prasad informed that Childline would hold the counselling sessions with the help of Muskan. The counselling sessions would continue till April 24. The court has made it clear that the sessions should include the classmates of the boy.
The State had faced flak from the Supreme Court in January for not taking steps to initiate counselling for the boy and his classmates.
The court had squarely blamed the State government for its failure to provide a safe environment, recognised schools and qualified teachers for children in accordance with the Right to Education Act.
The Act mandates quality, free, and compulsory education for children up to 14 years without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed or gender.
The court had flagged the slapping incident as a “very serious” and direct violation of Article 21A (the fundamental right of a child to free and compulsory education) of the Constitution, the Right to Education Act and even the Uttar Pradesh Rules which task the local authorities to ensure that children do not face discrimination in classrooms.
The court said it would separately take up the larger issue of the implementation of the Right to Education Act in Uttar Pradesh on March 15. The Bench directed the State government to file a detailed affidavit on the measures so far taken in the implementation of the Act.
In September last year, the court had criticised the State for a “watered-down” and delayed FIR against the school teacher, who was shown on video showering communal remarks on the child.
The court had at the time raised questions about religious discrimination and quality of education in Uttar Pradesh. “The manner in which the incident has happened should shock the conscience of the State,” Justice Oka had observed.
Justice Oka had said the FIR, registered after a “long delay” by the Uttar Pradesh Police, had ignored statements made by the child’s father about objectionable remarks made by the teacher, Tripti Tyagi.
The petitioner, Tushar Gandhi, represented by advocate Shadan Farasat, highlighted that corporal punishment was rampant in the Indian education system.
“The appalling and ghastly episode is preceded by a series of instances of violence against students belonging to marginalised communities,” the petition said.
The plea said violence in schools had an insidious effect even on students who witness it, creating an atmosphere of fear, anxiety, intolerance, and polarisation.
