Govt introduces a lesson on casteless society in class 6 textbook
Picture used for representational purpose. (Photo: DC/File)
Chennai: The first page of all school textbooks carries this message: Untouchability is a sin, Untouchability is a crime, and Untouchability is inhuman. To make this idea work on the ground, the government has introduced a lesson on casteless society in Class 6 textbooks this year. And, for the first time, all schools have been asked to invite people from different communities to participate in the flag hoisting during the Independence Day celebrations on August 15.
It’s time for such positive action as several complaints reach the police on discrimination faced by students in schools and fights between student groups, who are divided in the name of their castes. Educationists and social activists across the state have urged the government to work on effective measures to ensure that the poison of untouchability does not affect school children.
In March 2014, 16-year-old Dalit student Sathi Ozhipu Veeran (his name translates as Caste Eradicating Braveheart) in Madurai was beaten up by his schoolmates. Class 11 student Veeran was asked how he could wear decent clothes and how he could call himself Sathi Ozhipu Veeran.
His father Santhosam has filed a complaint with the police and a trial is on in the Madurai district court (Protection of Civil Rights) now.
“I am so worried about the behaviour of children in schools. I named my son Sathi Ozhipu Veeran thinking that his name would spread awareness on casteless society. When I learnt that he was attacked for his name, I was in a state of shock,” Santhosam told DC. With a promise that Veeran would not be attacked anymore, Santhosam has agreed to send him back to school.
In another recent instance in Virudhunagar, a group of dominant caste students scolded Dalit student Anandharaj for attending school, which has a large number of students from their caste.
They abused him and told him that he shouldn’t use footwear. Veeran and Anandharaj stand as proof of the danger of casteism brewing in classrooms, say A. Kathir, director of the Evidence NGO in Madurai.
“When young minds are corrupted in schools, the kids would grow with the attitude and live with it. It’s high time we taught children about a casteless society beyond the syllabus,” he said.
Educationist S.S. Rajagopalan said since casteism is embedded in the minds of everyone in society, it’s not an easy job to erase it from the minds of children.
“Until the matriculation school system was introduced in 1978, children from all strata of society studied in the common school. There were no differences among the children. Privitisation of education has widened the differences among school children now,” he said. Rajagopalan stresses that a common school system is the only solution to unite children.
( Source : dc )
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