Teacher transferred; two cooks suspended for caning student over egg distribution in Tiruvannamalai

Class III teacher transferred and two noon meal staff suspended for caning student demanding eggs at school.

A Class III teacher was transferred, and two noon meal staff were suspended on Friday for caning a class V student, who demanded egg that was given as part of noon meal, at Panchayat Union Primary School in Kollaimedu hamlet that comes under Sengunam village panchayat of Polur block in Tiruvannamalai a day ago. The Department of School Education has transferred the teacher T. Flora, who handles classes I-III , at Panchayat Union Primary School in Edapirai village near Polur town. The cook at the noon meal centre in the school, J. Lakshmi, 53, and assistant cook P. Muniammal, 43, were suspended by the Department of Social Welfare.

The inquiry revealed that transferred teacher Flora and two noon meal staff belong to the same Sengunam village. They were working in the school for the past three years. They used to quarrel on petty issues in the campus regularly.

Based on orders of Collector K. Tharpagaraj, legal action, including filing cases against two noon meal staff, has also been initiated by Polur police for caning the school student. “As headmaster Saravanan was on leave on that day, teacher Flora, who was in-charge, should have intervened and prevented the noon meal staff from beating the student. But, the teacher failed to do so,” S. Karthikeyan, Tiruvannamalai District Educational Officer (Elementary), told The Hindu.  

It comes after a probe led by Polur block educational officer (BEO), P. Sundar, held at the school campus, where the team found the teacher and two noon meal staff were guilty for caning the student, who questioned non-distribution of eggs and noon meal for students in the school when he saw racks of eggs in the kitchen. The noon meal staff admitted to caning the student for demanding eggs during lunch break in the school. But, they claimed to the inquiry team that the eggs had turned rotten. So, they did not cook it for a noon meal. However, the inquiry team found that their claim was not true.   The video of the student, who was caned with a broomstick by noon meal staff in the class went viral on social media platforms. It sparked a public outcry on the student being beaten up by noon meal staff. Following a public outcry over the incident, the School Education department has conducted an inquiry and ordered the transfer of the teacher.