Panel orders boy back in class

NIRMAL MANGAR

Gangtok, April 8: The Sikkim State Child Rights Commission has directed Holy Cross School to take back a Class IV student who had been issued a transfer certificate last month on health grounds. The commission also directed the school authorities not to call any student “mentally disoriented” without medical endorsement. The 11-year-old boy will be attending school from Tuesday, commission sources said. School principal Sister Jessy Mathew had labelled the boy of “unsound mind” while issuing a transfer certificate within a month of the start of the new session, insisting that he should study in special schools. The commission had summoned principal Mathew and six members of the school disciplinary committee for a hearing yesterday. During the two-hour session, the commission sought the expert opinion of Dr B.P. Dhakal, the general secretary of the Spastic Society of Sikkim, on the mental state of the child whom he was told to examine. The committee concluded that the boy was “normal” and should be allowed to continue with his studies in the same school. Dhakal is a doctor with the government-run Sir Thutob Namgayal Memorial Hospital in Gangtok. “After listening to both the sides, the commission ordered the school to take back the student. We had Dr B.P. Dhakal to interact with the child. He confirmed that the child had no complications,” said commission chairperson Manita Pradhan. “The doctor said the child was completely fit for mainstream schooling. The child was asked several questions by the doctor on addition, subtraction, names of the (days of the) week by the doctor and he answered the questions promptly,” Pradhan said. The TC was challenged by the boy’s grandmother Shila Devi Rai on April 5 before the commission. She had argued that no doctor had been consulted to declare the child unfit for school. She had also said the boy had been a student of the school for three years and had been promoted to Class IV with good marks. During that time, the authorities had not raised any questions on the child’s health. Principal Mathew had told The Telegraph earlier that the child was “mentally disoriented and mentally unsound. He beats up other students and disturbs the class. The disciplinary committee summoned the boy’s grandmother who took the child away from school”. Shila Devi said she was happy with the decision of the commission whose orders are binding on all Sikkim schools, but feared that the child may be discriminated against when he joined class. “I am very happy that my grandson will go to the same school. I thank the commission for delivering justice to him. However, I fear that he may get discriminated in the school,” she said. In case such a thing happens, the boy’s guardian can lodge another complaint with the commission, sources said. “The school has to comply with the order of the commission. If it fails, a complaint would be lodged with the police. Right to Education is a fundamental right and no one can violate the basic rights of a child,” said an official from the social welfare department. The school authorities refused to talk to The Telegraph after the hearing.(The Telegraph)