Indian Express 22.06.2010
Kids from ‘jhopadpatti areas’ tough to handle
Sukanya Shetty Tags : slum kids in BMC schools, mumbai Posted: Tue Jun 22 2010, 00:25 hrs
Mumbai: An affidavit filed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in reply to a PIL in the Bombay High Court, has raised eyebrows for disparaging children from slums in municipal schools.The affidavit states many students in civic schools are from slum areas and may not always be from “good” families. They often have bad habits, are influenced by movies and fight in classrooms over petty issues, the nine-page affidavit states.
The mother of Sion Municipal Urdu School student, seven-year-old Sohail Mohammad, had filed the PIL after his classmate allegedly jabbed at his right eye with a pencil in January after a brawl, leading to loss of sight. The affidavit states there was no visible injury on the boy’s eye and he had not been made to sit in class without medical attention for about two hours after the incident, as alleged by his mother Sherbano Khan.
The affidavit filed by Chhotelal L Pasi, a Beat Officer, F North Ward of BMC, says managing such children, from “jhopadpatti areas” (slums), in school was tough.In her petition, Sherbano had sought proper guidelines to hold schools responsible in such cases and make them provide a safe and secure environment.
This is BMC’s first reply after the division bench of Justices Ranjana Desai and Nishita Mhatre pulled up the authorities for not having provided first aid to Sohail.
The beat officer, citing his experience of about 30 years, states in the affidavit that he found such children in municipal schools, influenced by movies, were ready to pick fights. “Women teachers find it difficult to solve fights between students...It is tough to prevent such incidents unless there is awareness among children and parents about good behaviour,” it states. Expressing shock and admitting BMC’s mistake in filing such an affidavit, BMC Education Officer Abbasaheb Jadhav said the beat officer had no authority to file one. “It is BMC’s responsibility to ensure security and good learning atmosphere. I would not know why BMC made someone who has no authority to file an affidavit. I will have to look into the matter and see if we can do something to correct this gross mistake on our part.”
