To err is [not] human: Vigilant official ‘scars’ student for trying to cheat
For this assistant commissioner, corporal punishment is necessary to teach a generation.
A boy violates section 144, which has been imposed for the Matric examinations, by standing on the rooftop of a school in Hyderabad on Monday. PHOTO: INP
KARACHI:
The Gulberg assistant commissioner, Arshad Warsi, took on the role of a vigilante when he slapped a grade-nine student after he found cheating material on him during the secondary school certificate biology exam on Monday.
The incident left the student at the Delhi Government Boys Secondary School with a bleeding nose and impaired vision, as his glasses were shattered glass spectacles.
"Did I put this material in your underwear or was it your mother who arranged it?" yelled Warsi, as he continued to insult the 15-year-old, subsequent to his hard slap.
The exam centre's superintendent and principal at the school, Tariq Mehboob, pointed out that the student was not even cheating when the assistant commissioner asked him to rise from his seat for a body search. "Recovery of the cheating material that was not even being used does not merit any action against the candidate as per the rules," he contended. "After this ugly incident, I gave the boy an additional half hour to complete his exam, but he was crying inconsolably and was unable to write anything."
Meanwhile, Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, when approached by The Express Tribune, declared the incident "an outrageous act", vowing to take stern action against the public official after receiving the complete report.
The Board of Secondary Education Karachi's (BSEK) examinations controller, Noman Ahsan, said no one has the right to inflict corporal punishment on children, even if they are caught using unfair means. "Instead of taking the matter in his own hands, the assistant commissioner should have informed the centre's superintendent or the education board to take action as per the rules and regulations."
Warsi told The Express Tribune that some of the cheat sheets, better-known as pharras, which were found from the student, had 'Bismillah' written on them. "I meant it as a rebuke, so that the student would learn to at least respect religion in the future," said the assistant commissioner. "Even if my own son had done such a thing, I would have hit him. Students do cheat during exams but this is an entirely different matter."
The Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2013 clearly stipulates that no child shall be subjected to corporal punishment or mental harassment. Any person who contravenes this provision, shall be liable to disciplinary action under the service rules, states the Act.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2014.
The Gulberg assistant commissioner, Arshad Warsi, took on the role of a vigilante when he slapped a grade-nine student after he found cheating material on him during the secondary school certificate biology exam on Monday.
The incident left the student at the Delhi Government Boys Secondary School with a bleeding nose and impaired vision, as his glasses were shattered glass spectacles.
"Did I put this material in your underwear or was it your mother who arranged it?" yelled Warsi, as he continued to insult the 15-year-old, subsequent to his hard slap.
The exam centre's superintendent and principal at the school, Tariq Mehboob, pointed out that the student was not even cheating when the assistant commissioner asked him to rise from his seat for a body search. "Recovery of the cheating material that was not even being used does not merit any action against the candidate as per the rules," he contended. "After this ugly incident, I gave the boy an additional half hour to complete his exam, but he was crying inconsolably and was unable to write anything."
Meanwhile, Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, when approached by The Express Tribune, declared the incident "an outrageous act", vowing to take stern action against the public official after receiving the complete report.
The Board of Secondary Education Karachi's (BSEK) examinations controller, Noman Ahsan, said no one has the right to inflict corporal punishment on children, even if they are caught using unfair means. "Instead of taking the matter in his own hands, the assistant commissioner should have informed the centre's superintendent or the education board to take action as per the rules and regulations."
Warsi told The Express Tribune that some of the cheat sheets, better-known as pharras, which were found from the student, had 'Bismillah' written on them. "I meant it as a rebuke, so that the student would learn to at least respect religion in the future," said the assistant commissioner. "Even if my own son had done such a thing, I would have hit him. Students do cheat during exams but this is an entirely different matter."
The Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2013 clearly stipulates that no child shall be subjected to corporal punishment or mental harassment. Any person who contravenes this provision, shall be liable to disciplinary action under the service rules, states the Act.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2014.