First meet throws open differences among panellists

The first high-level meeting to finalise the draft of the code of conduct for students under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE) was held in Mumbai recently. Viewed as the first step to drafting of the Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Schools bill, the meeting however, did not yield any immediate result for lack of consensus among committee members.

School education minister Rajendra Darda and minister of state for education Fouziya Khan were conspicuous by their absence at the meeting.

Panel members felt that same set of rules cannot be made applicable to both urban and rural areas. Besides, there were also differences regarding the scope of the code, sources said.
Committee members and former chairperson of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) Vasant Kalpande said, “The draft was prepared after intensive research of corporal punishment and levels of misbehaviour in various countries. If the UK has banned corporal punishment, it is still used in South Korea, Malaysia and some parts of USA. Though the education system and society structure in other countries are very different, there are some standard expectations about behaviour of students. The panel has representation from police department, psychiatrists and eminent educationists. In older days, whenever a child complained to parents about teachers’ misbehaviour or punishment, the parent would blame the child for the wrongdoing. Today, it is vice versa.”
Kalpande said that the committee deliberated on basic parameters expected from students, including not to use foul language, respecting the elders, not hurting others etc