Chair attack on principal and PTA president for Instagram comment; disgrace to school and education system

It is natural for the anarchy and intolerance, which is growing day by day in society and politics, to spread to students as well. It doesn't take much time these days to grow even minor issues into big problems. The practice of attacking instead of settling disputes amicably is getting widely accepted. There are no few occasions when those who are supposed to control the younger generation, guide them and show them the right path are becoming bad examples themselves. A group of students of the Poovachal Government Higher Secondary School in Thiruvananthapuram have brought disrepute not only to the school and the teachers but also to the state itself. It was a petty dispute created by the children that led to a situation where the principal, the teachers and the PTA president were beaten up and had to seek hospital admission.

To resolve the dispute between plus one and plus two students, the principal summoned both students from both groups to her room. During the discussion, the children became agitated. Following this they started fighting using chairs in the room. Both parties armed themselves with all the chairs there. Meanwhile, the woman principal and the PTA president, who intervened to calm the students down, were seriously injured in the chair attack. The principal sustained injuries on her head, nose and neck. The PTA president, who is also the Poovachal panchayat president, also suffered serious injuries. The Kattakada police, who came to know about the incident, calmed down the situation without further clashes. The police have registered case against 20 students. Dozens of chairs were damaged in the clash.

It is said that clashes and fights between students are common in this school. It is learnt that a Plus One student had posted a comment on the senior student's Instagram post which led to Monday's clash and chair fight. The principal had summoned the troublemaking students and their parents to the school to sort out the constant quarrels and arguments between the students. Our schools and colleges, where not only discipline, but even sheer manners are disappearing, pose a big challenge to the gurus who lead them. In many places, they have to live in fear of their students. The pressure and humiliation suffered by the teachers of colleges in Kannur, Thalassery, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram are yet to be forgotten. There will be politicians in support of those who are breaking all limits of discipline and creating chaos in schools and colleges.

It is the politicians who inculcate in students the courage and lack of apathy to behave as they wish in schools. These students easily get away with even criminal cases. Such a situation prevails more in government schools as compared to private schools. Many school heads are in a situation where they are unable to take action against even a single student for serious indiscipline. The violence shown by the students at Poovachal school cannot be seen as mere child's play. These students deserve appropriate punishment for causing an irremovable black mark to the school itself. If this is how they conduct at school, what will be their behaviour outside in the future?! It is a matter of concern that many of their parents were witnesses to this incivility. If discipline is not maintained at any cost in schools, the disadvantages will be the ordinary students who come only to study.