In a case of apparent negligence, a kindergarten student in Palakkad district of Kerala was locked up inside the classroom inadvertently by her teacher. On Monday, the student who studies in UKG had fallen asleep in class, and was not noticed by the teacher who locked the classroom. The child was discovered by her parents who came looking for her when she didn’t reach home hours after school got over.
The incident has landed the class teacher of Pathamkulam LP School near Ottapalam in trouble. The Assistant Educational Officer (AEO) has asked the teacher to not come to work for five days as part of inquiry. “Prima facie it is found that the class teacher is at fault in the incident. The teacher has accepted that she did not notice the student sitting inside the classroom. She should have looked back before locking the room,” AEO Sathyapalan told Asianet News.
The incident became controversial after a video of the family finding the girl at school surfaced on social media. In the video, the parents of the child can be heard expressing shock after seeing her all alone in the school premises. They reportedly discovered her around 5 pm on Monday, hours after school got over.
After the incident grabbed media attention, the school authorities and the class teacher reportedly apologised about the lapse. As per the school officials, the teacher had not noticed the student sitting inside the classroom while locking the door.
It was only recently that another school in Kerala landed in controversy for serious negligence which cost a class five student named Shehla Sherin her life. Shehla died after being bitten by a snake inside the classroom. The school teachers have been accused of delaying taking the student to the hospital on time, which could have saved her life.
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