Corporal punishment: DSEK receives 400 complaints this year

Srinagar, Dec 5: The Directorate of School Education (DSEK) has received over 400 grievances this year varying from corporal punishment to transfer woes.
An official said the grievance cell receives complaints and grievances of different nature from employees as well other stakeholders of the department including parents as well.
As per the official figures available, the directorate has been able to resolve 40 percent of the grievances and the complaints received from different quarters while 60 percent grievances are under process at different stages.
“We try our best to resolve the grievances and dispose of the cases in a time bound manner but there is no end to receiving complaints. That is why the number goes on increasing with each passing day,” the official said.
Notably, the directorate has been receiving grievances wherein the nature of complaints vary from corporal punishment to transfer woes of the teachers besides deployment of teachers.
“We mostly receive complaints pertaining to collection of fees by private schools. At times there are grievances regarding appointment under SRO-43,” the official said.
Notably, the issue of collection of fees by private schools has been a persistent problem across J&K as parents always complain of being fleeced by the private schools.
“But at times we are unable to take the cases to a logical end as parents do not always cooperate with us. Most of the parents register complaints against private schools and later do not want to be identified,” the official said.
The directorate has also received complaints about unauthorised absence of teachers as well fake appointment of ReT teachers by the previous regimes.
“There have been many instances when the directorate received complaints about the fake appointment of ReT teachers. All such cases are referred to the crime branch for thorough investigations,” the official said.
“At times we receive some cases from ACB wherein the report is sought about different matters. Such complaints are either of corruption or fake appointments,” he said.
Besides other complaints, the grievance cell has also registered complaints about the shifting of schools in various areas across the Valley.
The schools are shifted by the department for having zero enrollment and are clubbed with nearby schools.
“But the complainants state that their kids cannot go to the other schools citing various reasons. All such cases are referred to higher ups for their decision on these matters,” the official said
Notably, the School Education Department (SED) has shifted (clubbed) hundreds of schools for the last many years. These schools were clubbed under the process of rationalisation to streamline the Pupil Teacher ratio (PTR) in government schools.
Meanwhile, the official said the efforts of the grievance cell remains to dispose of the cases as early as possible to redress the grievances of the general public.