Teachers punish students to put them in right path: Minister

Gulbarga, Sep 5 (UNI) Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Basavaraja Horatti today said that opposition to teachers punishing the students was not correct as they do it to put their pupil in the right path.

Participating in the state level Teacher's Day programme here the minister felt that there was nothing wrong if a teacher, in an attempt to make the student improve in his or her studies punishes them. However the punishment should not be harsh. It should be used only to keep them on the right track, he felt.

Two recent incidents in the state where teachers had beaten up students in the age group of 11 and eight years had led to a wide protests and activists had called for strict action against the teachers.

"Teacher punishing the student is like court punishing the guilty and it should be accepted in letter and spirit," he said.

Teachers had the moral responsibility to imbibe moral values and patriotism in students and encourage them to take part in more and more extra curricular activities, he said.

He said the government had planned to spent Rs 6669 crore over the years to develop school infrastructure in the state. Karnataka, which was in the 29th position in creating infrastructure in education at the time of independence, had improved to ninth position in the country, he said.

The minister also gave away best teachers awards to 41 teachers.

UNI