Re: [IAC#RG] Child Rights are Shams in India

Sorry but I don't agree with your view. Failing a child should not be included in the corporal punishment. If the child is not able to understand the basic subject & by promoting him/her you are asking to give higher knowledge will be actually a mental pressure for the child. Yes the valid reason for the failure may be questioned but 1st promoting the child without his/her strength then demanding reservation for the child is the ill logic.

Ankit Khetan
India

On Jun 27, 2014 5:32 PM, Vishal Pandey <pandey.vishal@icai.org> wrote:
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> Child rights have just become shams in India. The incident here relates to unaided minority schools, which have been granted exemption from RTE Act by the Supreme Court of India. This implies that now unaided minority schools enjoy relentless powers in their functioning and they can play havoc with children studying in their school. They can expel the children from their schools; they can give punishment to children of primary classes by failing them and not promoting them to next classes. And all these illegal and unethical acts are held to be legal by our courts. In a recent case is The Frank Anthony Public School, Lajpat Nagar – IV, New Delhi – 110024 – an unaided minority school has failed a child named Himanshu Pandey (12 years old) in class VII. The matter go to High Court of Delhi (Writ Petition Civil No. 3656 of 2014) and court ordered that as school is unaided minority school, RTE Act is not applicable to them so court cannot do anything in this matter.
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> Failing of children is a corporal punishment since failed students face mental trauma. UNICEF (A UN Body) has defined corporal punishment so as to include mental punishment. By failing children who are below the age of 14, these unaided minority schools are giving corporal punishment to children and nobody can even stop them legally.
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> It is pertinent to mention that there are so many unaided minority schools (that is Christian Schools, Sikhs Schools, etc.) alone in Delhi and they are affiliated to CBSE and ISC Board and many children are studying in these schools. The children studying in these schools do not come from particular religion but from all religions and categories. This situation has created the ground for unjust treatment of all those children who are studying in these unaided minority institutions. Exemption from RTE Act shall give these schools unfettered power to infringe and breach rights of those children who are already studying in these schools. It is pertinent to mention that these students are the children of India and they have fundamental rights to enjoy all those privileges and rights, which are enjoyed by other children of India. Can any unjust and corporal punishment be given to children merely on the fact that they are studying in these unaided minority schools. This power in the hand of unaided minority schools would create ground for discriminatory and unjust practices against the children studying in these schools.
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> It is pertinent to mention that there is severe shortage of schools in India especially in Delhi. Due to these shortages, all schools are already in dominant position. Beside this situation, this relentless power that is exemption from RTE in the hand of unaided minority schools make situation worse. 
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> In the end it is pertinent to mention that any form of punishment (i.e. physical or mental) especially to child below the age of 14 is expressly barred everywhere in the world. But in India, courts are expressly allowing it. Are our courts have become so insensitive toward child rights or child rights have just become shams in India.
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> Attachment:
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> Copy of High Court Order