Controversy arose at a government school in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district after a video that was shared widely showed two students were seen painting the floor outside their classroom. After the video emerged, the Tamil Nadu school education department on Wednesday, March 9, ordered an inquiry into the incident, which occured at the Panchayat Union Middle School at Periyur, Erode. The video clip was reportedly shot by an AIADMK leader and former Panchayat Vice president of Periyur, Shanmugham, on Tuesday. Shanmugham was also the former president of the Parent-Teacher Association of the school.
In the video, two boy students are seen kneeling down and painting a section of the floor outside a classroom. A woman, addressed by the students as 'teacher', is seen monitoring the work. The person taking the video, amidst other conversation, asks if the students were being made to paint the floor. Shanmugham objected to the fact that the students were allegedly being made to do labour at their school.
While speaking to IANS, Shanmugham said, "When I went to the school, I found two boys painting and I filmed it. I questioned the headmistress about the children being made to kneel down and paint and she said that as the children draw on the walls (for beautification of the school), they are being trained. This is ridiculous and action is being taken against the headmistress for making two SC students kneel on the floor of the school and paint."
In the video, the teacher is heard replying that the boys were “practising”, and added that the students had also drawn their own pictures on the wall.
The school headmistress Dhanalakshmi also refuted the charges that the students were and said that the school helper was painting and when she went outside for a break, the boys had taken the painting out of interest.
Erode District Educational Officer, M Ramakrishna said that the department has ordered an inquiry into the incident and stringent action will be taken accordingly against anyone if found guilty.
Erode education department has initiated an inquiry into the incident of two students painting outside a classroom. Video of the instance at Periyur Panchayat Union Middle School was shot, the video of which has gone viral in social media. pic.twitter.com/4nGyyfcvpb
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