Male teaching staff of various schools in Kolkata are struggling to keep their jobs after the GD Birla school molestation case. Reportedly, school authorities are under huge pressure to sack them following the arrest of two PT teachers of GD Birla school for allegedly molesting a 4-year-old girl.
Abhishek Roy and Mohammad Mafisuddin Roy worked as Physical Trainer (PT) teachers at GD Birla school. They allegedly lured the child to a washroom and committed the crime. The incident resulted in angry parents questioning the “need of having male teachers” in girls’ schools. GD Birla is an all-girls’ school till 10th standard.
According to a Telegraph report, two South Calcutta schools have decided to replace a male karate instructor with a female teacher, while another school has asked its PT teacher, who is on probation, to look for a new job. At the same time, strict measures are being taken to monitor male housekeeping staff and drivers, like installing CCTV cameras inside the school bus and vans and a lady supervisor accompanying children.
Speaking to inUth, Kinkini Nandy, whose daughter is a classmate of the victim said they have been very firm in their demand of having the male teachers removed. “I know one could see it as a discriminatory move, but we can’t trust anyone. We don’t want male teachers. In government schools, male teachers don’t teach nursery students. We want the same rule in private schools, keeping in mind recent developments.”
However, experts including child rights activists find the move to be not only grossly unfair but also unproductive. They say such knee-jerk reaction might help school authorities to cover up their failure to provide security on their campus, but it won’t make campuses safer for children.
Recalling a conversation with a friend who was a teacher at a private school, Soma Roy Karmakar, Project Manager, Kolkata Rahi brings home the lopsided priorities of school authorities. “My friend is quite abreast with rules and regulations prescribed by Right To Education Act to protect children against sexual abuse. She sent a letter to the authorities asking them to install CCTV cameras. The school authorities turned down the request citing lack of funds as the reason. But soon they installed AC. Schools really don’t understand what is more important for children.”
Even those who have been demanding “capital punishment” for the accused find this move to be “ridiculous”. Amlan Biswas, secretary of Concern For Human Welfare who floated an online petition demanding death sentence for convicts in child sex abuse cases says, ” Why to show an entire community in a bad light for the acts of a few people. I don’t understand how sacking someone will help in making schools safe for children. We need a proper monitoring system in schools. I don’t think a PT teacher will molest a child during PT class. What happened in GD Birla school happened inside the washroom. Why was there no female guard, that is a question the school needs to address.”
Experts also feel that such frantic measures might end up being counterproductive to the process of sensitising children about gender issues. “Parents often forget that schools campuses aren’t the only place where children are vulnerable to sex abuse. They are equally vulnerable at home. School is the right place to counsel them, teach them the dos and don’t and prepare them for the world outside. ” She also has a word of advice for parents. “They can’t get away with blaming schools. They need to bring some basic changes in the way they teach their children to interact with outsiders. Why do we teach our kids to be respectful to all elders? Parents need to teach their children to be assertive. Kids need not show any respectful gesture when they are not feeling comfortable in the presence of certain elders.”
On the efficacy of having male teachers removed, she says: “We know father-daughter incest is prevalent. Can we cut off our father from our family in anticipation that they can sexually abuse their daughters? You can’t cut men off from educational eco-system. That would be detrimental to the holistic growth of students. Girls have to interact with the male members of the society at some point. They better learn to do it from a young age. Also, there have been some cases where women have been found to be the perpetrators of sexual abuse. The burden of teaching the right things is with the education system and parents. Taking male teachers out of school campuses is hardly the solution.”
