Kerala teacher accused of making student scrape tongue in front of classmates suspended

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: A Social Science teacher at a school in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram district was suspended in connection with a complaint that he humiliated a student in class and made the child scrape their tongue with a coconut leaf midrib over alleged pronunciation mistakes.

However, an inquiry by the Assistant Educational Officer (AEO) at Kilimanoor found that the complaint against the teacher, S.S. Akarsh of Thevalakkad SN UP School, was linked to personal differences within the school. The report also criticised the headmistress for allegedly acting with ill intent against the teacher.

The AEO subsequently limited the teacher's suspension to 15 days and directed that steps be taken to reinstate him after the suspension period.

AEO finds personal differences behind complaint

According to the AEO's inquiry report, the complaint against Akarsh was part of internal issues at the school. It stated that the headmistress had allegedly acted with ill intent in pursuing the matter, describing her conduct as unacceptable.

The report said the headmistress, A.S. Anila, was on leave on the day the alleged incident took place. After returning to school, she allegedly obtained written complaints from class teachers and students by compelling them to submit them.

The report also noted that parents had given written statements saying neither they nor their children had any complaints against the teacher. They reportedly said the child had not mentioned any such distressing incident at home.

It further alleged that a caste reference was added alongside the student's name without the knowledge of the parents to lend weight to the complaint.

The AEO said recording caste-based discrimination among children in this manner was unacceptable.

Suspension limited to 15 days

The school management had suspended Akarsh on October 26 after the complaint was raised. The management subsequently sought an extension of the suspension period.

However, the AEO rejected the request submitted by school manager Thottakkad Sasi, also known as V. Saseendran, and restricted the suspension to 15 days from October 26.

The order said the teacher's negligence in connection with the incident involving the coconut leaf midrib should not be repeated. It cited this as the reason for imposing the 15-day suspension.

The AEO also directed the management to initiate steps to reinstate the teacher once the suspension period was over.

The headmistress had submitted a complaint to the Child Rights Commission on October 9 regarding the alleged incident, which reportedly took place on July 30.

The management had also suspended the headmistress following an instruction from the AEO during the inquiry. However, that suspension was later withdrawn.

Teacher denies asking student to scrape tongue

Akarsh denied instructing the student to scrape their tongue with the coconut leaf midrib.

He said he had introduced the midrib to students as part of a Social Science lesson about objects used in earlier times and the changes they had undergone over the years.

According to the teacher, one student had taken a coconut leaf midrib, but he did not know what the child had done with it.

He maintained that he had neither instructed the student to scrape their tongue with it nor made the child perform such an act.