Works to cancel degrees of predator-teachers in progress, says minister Anbil

CHENNAI: Facing backlash from the opposition over the Krishnagiri incident, state school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Friday said that in addition to securing stringent punishment for such sexual predators, the process of invalidating the educational qualification of such offenders is under way.

Talking to media persons after attending a function at a school in Chrompet near here, Mahesh Poyyamozhi said, “Stringent punishment will be secured (for the offenders) after verifying the truth using a thorough probe. The state government will take action to invalidate their education qualification so that such criminals do not get opportunities elsewhere. Such issues would be dealt with an iron fist.”

Reacting to a specific query about three government school teachers abusing a class VIII student in Krishnagiri district, the school education minister said that we have maanavar manasu petti (Student's Mind box), a mechanism for students to vent their grievance, in every school. However, the students are scared to speak out about violence meted out against them. Adding that a system was available in all government schools to provide counselling to the students, the minister described the incident as "highly condemnable" and said that at least 700 doctors were available on a rotation basis to provide such counselling.

When reporters drew his attention to the reported abuse of a class IV student by members of a private school in Trichy, the minister said that the government would do everything within the realm of law to ensure that such incidents do not recur.