Unfair to blame teachers for student suicides without any evidence, Madras High Court says

A judge of the Madras High Court said it was easy to level allegations against teachers, but that in this case, an investigation into the case had found them to be false; good teachers must be appreciated and recognised, he said

In a judgement that has come as a shot in the arm for schoolteachers, the Madras High Court has disapproved of the practice of parents accusing teachers in the case of student suicides, without there being any evidence of the faculty having resorted to corporal punishment or any other illegality.

Justice S.M. Subramaniam said it was very easy to level wild allegations against teachers or headmasters/headmistresses and bring disrepute to the institutions in which they serve, but it was not so easy to maintain discipline among students and achieve good academic results despite severe constraints.

The observations were made while dismissing a 2018 writ petition filed by the mother of a student of Gudalur Government Higher Secondary School, who had died by suicide. The petitioner had sought disciplinary action against the headmaster and demanded a compensation of ₹10 lakh from the State government.

According to the petitioner, her son had ended his life not being able to bear the humiliation meted out to him by the headmaster who used to allegedly cut the hair of children, tear their trousers, abuse them using filthy language and also beat them up ruthlessly in front of all other students.

On the contrary, Special Government Pleader S. Mythreye Chandru told the court that an inquiry conducted by the District Educational Officer had revealed that the headmaster used to pay from his pocket for the children to cut their hair and that during his tenure, the pass percentage of the school rose from 45 to 90%.

The court was also told that the petitioner’s son was a regular absentee who had attended school for only 13 days in June 2017, 16 days in July and nine days in August 2017. Further, the police too had conducted an independent inquiry and found that the allegations levelled by the writ petitioner were false.

After recording the submissions of both sides, the judge said, it was a fit case to be dismissed with costs, but he was refraining from imposing costs on the petitioner because she was already in pain on having lost her son. The judge reminded that parents have a greater responsibility than teachers in ensuring the wellbeing of their children.