Strict action should be taken against teachers who engage in sexual offenses .... Teachers Alliance statement ...!

The Tamil Nadu Primary School Teachers' Coalition has demanded that stern action be taken against teachers who engage in sexual offenses.

In the last few days, some school teachers in Tamil Nadu have been subjected to sexual harassment. Whoever is at fault should be stopped before the law and severely punished. Padma Seshadri Balabhavan School Teacher Rajagopal, Chetput Maharishi Vidya Mandir School Teacher Anandan, Chettinad Vidyashram School Teacher Kepraj, who worked as a Karate Coach at Padma Seshadri Millennium School, Chennai Prime Athletic School Center Coach Nagarajan

Annathurai, a private school teacher in Mayiladuthurai, has been arrested under the Pokcho Act. Grammatically, most teachers still do their job today. But a few black sheep like this have been subjected to the greatest mental anguish by the teaching community itself. The teacher-student relationship is like a parent-child relationship, and it is to be welcomed that the Government of Tamil Nadu is acting in a way that is detrimental to it and is taking action against them under strict legal provisions, including Pokcho. Similarly, it is to be welcomed that the Minister of School Education has announced that the Department of School Education will soon publish detailed guidelines on how teachers and students should behave in online classes.

The Government of Tamil Nadu should take the following steps to prevent further such sexual offenses in schools:

1. A special committee should be set up to investigate sexual harassment complaints in schools.

2. The Visa Committee already in place in schools does not seem to be functioning in most schools and a committee should be set up in all schools to bring it into operation.

3. To set up a high level committee at the state level to ensure the safety of girl children in schools and to get its recommendations and implement them in all schools.

4. The State Organization of the Tamil Nadu Primary School Teachers' Coalition calls on the Government of Tamil Nadu to expedite the prosecution of teachers who have been charged with sexual offenses and to provide appropriate punishment to the perpetrators.