Goa sees 12 cases of corporal punishment in schools in 3 years

Panaji: Despite the laws against corporal punishment, over the last three years, there were 12 cases reported in govt and govt aided schools in Goa of such punishment being meted out to children, as per a reply tabled in the assembly. Seven of these 12 cases came to light last year alone, all of them being in govt aided schools. In one case reported in Dec 2024, govt inquiry found the teacher to be mentally unstable.

In one case in a Mapusa school reported in 2025, the “school imposed minor penalty under Section 94 (i) & (iii) withholding one increment of pay of the teacher”, states the assembly reply.

Of the six cases reported last year, in three cases the inquiry is in progress and in two cases the teacher involved has been suspended for up to six months. In a case related to a govt higher secondary school in South Goa, the teacher was found to be mentally unstable on inquiry. “According to the inquiry report received from the deputy director, it was stated that the said teacher should not be assigned any teaching position due to her current disturbed state of mind and tendency towards unstable, erratic behaviour. Consequently, the teacher was transferred from the school to south educational zone, Margao,” the reply tabled in the House states.

The most brutal of the incidents was reported in a govt aided primary school in Bardez taluka in Sept 2024, where FIR was filed against two teachers Sujal Gawade of Verem and Kanisha Gadekar of Pirna for causing severe injuries to a Class IV student.

In this case, “an order was issued approving the suspension of the regular teacher and the disciplinary authority of the school was directed to conduct an impartial detailed inquiry into the matter and initiate disciplinary proceedings against the teachers. The services of the contractual teachers have been discontinued”, the reply read.

In two cases in 2023 of corporal punishment reported in govt primary schools, “the teacher is exonerated from the charges” by the secretary for women & child, as the case was found “not maintainable” in one instance and as the complainant did not appear in the second one.

“Schools have been directed to maintain a zero-tolerance against corporal punishment, establish grievance redressal mechanisms and provide counselling support,” the chief minister has said in the reply in the House. He said teachers are being trained to enhance their responsiveness to student’s emotional and psychological needs.