Probe initiated after allegations of govt school HM 'forcing' kids to clean toilets

Coimbatore: The district Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department has initiated an inquiry into allegations against the headmistress of the Government Tribal Residential Middle School (GTRMS) at Kunjurpathi tribal settlement for allegedly making students clean the school toilets.

Photographs purportedly showing schoolchildren engaged in cleaning the toilets have been circulating on social media since Thursday, The New Indian Express reported.

A parent, speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged that around 40 students from Classes 1 to 8 were staying at the school hostel near Palamalai in Coimbatore. The parent claimed that the headmistress had made students clean the toilets, citing the irregular attendance of sanitation workers. The practice had reportedly been introduced recently and was alleged to have resulted in health problems among some students.

The parent also alleged that the headmistress had assaulted a girl student with a stick after she allegedly failed to complete her homework, leaving an injury on her back. The girl's parent subsequently visited the school and confronted the headmistress, the parent claimed.

Following the allegations, members of the Child Welfare Committee conducted an inquiry and submitted their findings to the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department.

Parents also raised several other concerns in their complaint, alleging that the school's water tanks were poorly maintained and contained frogs. They also alleged that the compound wall was in a dilapidated condition, teachers were arriving late and food was not being served to students properly.

Sources said that although the parents had lodged a complaint against the headmistress on September 6, officials of the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department had not taken action until then.

However, a senior department official confirmed that an inquiry had been initiated and disciplinary proceedings had been started against the headmistress.