The School Education Department has ordered an inquiry into an incident in which two students of the Panchayat Union Middle School at Periyur, Erode, were seen painting the school floor in a video clip that went viral on social media on Wednesday.
The video that runs for 2.24 minutes was shot on Tuesday by the former panchayat vice-president, Shanmugam, of AIADMK who was also the former president of the school management committee.
The video shows two boy students of Class 7 kneeling down and painting the floor outside the classroom. When Mr. Shanmugam questions why they are painting, headmistress Dhanalakshmi is heard saying that since the boys need to draw on walls, they are given the training. The school with five teachers has 53 students studying from classes 1 to 8.
Mr. Shanmugam claimed the two students belonged to the Scheduled Caste community and the headmistress forced them to do the painting work. He wanted action to be taken against her.
Refuting the charge, Ms. Dhanalakshmi said the school helper was painting the floor and when she went to the noon meal centre, the boys, who were on their way for a break, carried on the work.
Sources claimed classrooms and toilets in the school were recently renovated by a foundation and Modakkurichi MLA C. Saraswathi inaugurated the works. This upset the local AIADMK functionaries who questioned the headmistress after which trouble brewed.
When contacted, Chief Educational Officer M. Ramakrishnan told The Hindu that officials had been asked to conduct an inquiry after which action would be taken accordingly.
