I am sure the kids are saying the truth, it is heartbreaking to the read the account of this poor little girl whose last words were ""I never want to go to school again."
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My three-year-old son came home from a private preschool recently and told me that his teacher had hit him for not being able to color properly. I was shocked and angry. The next morning, however, I discovered that my anger could be funneled into a wider controversy. I read in the local newspapers about Shanno Khan, 11, a Delhi schoolgirl had allegedly been punished at school but did not survive. Shanno's sisters, who attend the same government school, say that her teacher forced her to stand in the scorching sun for two hours until she fainted. She reportedly slipped into a coma and died in the hospital. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which governs a large part of the area around India's capital, and a pro bono lawyer for Shanno's family are investigating the case. The teacher has denied doing anything wrong, saying that she did not punish her and that Shanno was epileptic, a claim her father denies. So far no action has been taken against the teacher. But her death has renewed calls to stop corporal punishment in schools; the issue is explosive because in India physical abuse in schools is widespread. According to a 2007 joint study by UNICEF, Save the Children and the Indian government, 65% of school-going children have faced corporal punishment. Ayub Khan, Shanno's father, a waiter without a regular job, says in an interview with TIME that he is determined "to get justice for his daughter.. |