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The School Education Department on July 10, Friday, suspended the headmistress of a government girls’ middle school in Karur after a video showing students watching the live telecast of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) public meeting on a classroom smart display went viral on social media.
S Malliga, headmistress of the Panchayat Union Girls’ Middle School in Krishnarayapuram, was placed under suspension by the Karur Educational Officer (Elementary). The suspension comes a day after the department issued a circular prohibiting schools from hosting or conducting events other than official government programmes involving students.
The order stated that disciplinary action was being initiated against Malliga for violating departmental instructions and for negligence of duty.
The controversy began after a video surfaced online showing students watching the live screening of Vijay’s public meeting in Karur on a smart classroom display during school hours.
School Education Minister A Rajmohan said the department ordered an immediate inquiry after the video emerged. In a social media post, he said the inquiry found that the headmistress had acted on her own and in violation of existing departmental instructions.
“It was improper to screen the live broadcast of a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) event for students at a school. There is no place for politics in educational institutions,” the minister said. He added that all Chief Educational Officers and school headmasters had been instructed to ensure that such incidents were not repeated in schools across the state.
On July 9, the School Education Department had issued a circular directing schools not to conduct or host non-government events on their campuses. The circular said that, apart from official Union government or state government programmes, schools should not permit birthday celebrations, events organised by private organisations, or political party programmes involving students.
The circular was issued following criticism over a video showing Industries Minister S Keerthana inspecting a school in Sivakasi earlier this month.
