Harassment and exploitation are not unusual in educational institutions and academic circles, explains Vatsala Vedantam
You may wonder what this has to do with education. The answer would be - Everything. Teachers molesting young children in their care; seniors ragging the new entrants sexually in boarding houses or on college campuses; hostel wardens bullying teenaged students into sexual activities; college lecturers taking undue liberties with young undergraduates; university professors threatening to withold doctoral degrees from post graduate students unless they succumb to a sexual relationship with them.
The list is endless. It is also a hush hush topic which is conveniently swept under the carpet as the victim of such abuses rarely speaks out. And, the parents of these abused children shun publicity. These attitudes give the abusers full protection and freedom to carry on their shameful activities brazenly.
The recent case of the chemistry professor of Karnatak University who has been demoted for sexually harassing a PhD student in his care has focussed public attention at last on an appalling "educational" activity. The student deserves to be complimented for exposing the ugly incident. The professor deserved a more severe punishment than a mere demotion in rank. His services should have been terminated for violation of the trust placed in him by parents when he traumatised his own student and ward.
Teachers propositioning students is nothing new. From slight flirtations to illicit relationships, they have got away with their crimes because of the social pressures faced by their victims. We hear of young boys committing suicide "due to depression" in boarding schools and college hostels. The authorities look away even when the appalling truth is staring them in the face. The criminals, who pressurised these young persons to resort to such an extreme step, go unpunished.
The parents have no evidence. So, many unsavoury incidents in the name of ragging go unreported in boarding schools and college hostels. Unless parents come out and speak, or encourage their children to speak, such ills will continue to be part of our education system.
As an education columnist, I have stumbled on many instances of blatant soliciting of sexual favours by teachers in return for the academic success of their students. But, I have rarely come across the authorities mete out punishment to the criminals except in one instance, where a young student of architecture in Bangalore University was deliberately failed in drawing every semester.
She was a student of engineering whose teacher systemmatically harassed her when she refused to respond to his sexual advances. It was only when the matter was taken to the Regisrar of Evaluation that the student got justice, although the teacher escaped scot free.
This is not to demonise teachers and university professors. Students themselves have often resorted to undesirable behaviour in colleges and universites where hapless teachers have become the victims. It has happened some years ago in the same architecture department of the University College of Engineering (UVCE) where several young teachers were unfairly punished following nasty incidents during a college tour.
Several universities in western countries have sexual harassment policies which shows that offering good grades to students in return for sexual favours is not restricted to Indian universities. These aberrations can happen anywhere. They have occurred in the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) where meritorious students have had their degrees withheld by professors.
They have happened in well known Ivy League colleges in America where students are unable to complete their doctoral programs for the same reason. They happen all the time in our college campuses where the hapless students find no reprieve. Parents themselves are largely responsible for these deviations. If they showed greater incolvement in their children's education - apart from paying the tuition fees - our schools and colleges would become safer places.
Parent-teacher rapport is very important in a child's education. Even at the undergraduate or graduate levels, this rapport should continue without hampering the student's private space. The concept of a parent teacher association at the college level was visualised by a former vice-chancellor of Bangalore University and implemented successfully during his tenure.
Such active associations would not only establish greater rapport among teachers, students and their guardians, but they would go a long way in preventing misbehaviour among teachers and students. Sexual harassment would not go unnoticed or unchecked. It is time that all state universities and private colleges encouraged parents to form vigilant groups on campuses to check such incidents like the one that happened in Dharwad in the Karnatak University.
Schools, colleges and university departments should become places where young minds can learn and develop in a clean environment.
They should not be places where parents fear for their children's safety, or where young learners fear to tread. Let the ugly episode in one of our prestigious state universities act as an eye opener to the authorities. It should be the last of its kind.
You may wonder what this has to do with education. The answer would be - Everything. Teachers molesting young children in their care; seniors ragging the new entrants sexually in boarding houses or on college campuses; hostel wardens bullying teenaged students into sexual activities; college lecturers taking undue liberties with young undergraduates; university professors threatening to withold doctoral degrees from post graduate students unless they succumb to a sexual relationship with them.
The list is endless. It is also a hush hush topic which is conveniently swept under the carpet as the victim of such abuses rarely speaks out. And, the parents of these abused children shun publicity. These attitudes give the abusers full protection and freedom to carry on their shameful activities brazenly.
The recent case of the chemistry professor of Karnatak University who has been demoted for sexually harassing a PhD student in his care has focussed public attention at last on an appalling "educational" activity. The student deserves to be complimented for exposing the ugly incident. The professor deserved a more severe punishment than a mere demotion in rank. His services should have been terminated for violation of the trust placed in him by parents when he traumatised his own student and ward.
Teachers propositioning students is nothing new. From slight flirtations to illicit relationships, they have got away with their crimes because of the social pressures faced by their victims. We hear of young boys committing suicide "due to depression" in boarding schools and college hostels. The authorities look away even when the appalling truth is staring them in the face. The criminals, who pressurised these young persons to resort to such an extreme step, go unpunished.
The parents have no evidence. So, many unsavoury incidents in the name of ragging go unreported in boarding schools and college hostels. Unless parents come out and speak, or encourage their children to speak, such ills will continue to be part of our education system.
As an education columnist, I have stumbled on many instances of blatant soliciting of sexual favours by teachers in return for the academic success of their students. But, I have rarely come across the authorities mete out punishment to the criminals except in one instance, where a young student of architecture in Bangalore University was deliberately failed in drawing every semester.
She was a student of engineering whose teacher systemmatically harassed her when she refused to respond to his sexual advances. It was only when the matter was taken to the Regisrar of Evaluation that the student got justice, although the teacher escaped scot free.
This is not to demonise teachers and university professors. Students themselves have often resorted to undesirable behaviour in colleges and universites where hapless teachers have become the victims. It has happened some years ago in the same architecture department of the University College of Engineering (UVCE) where several young teachers were unfairly punished following nasty incidents during a college tour.
Several universities in western countries have sexual harassment policies which shows that offering good grades to students in return for sexual favours is not restricted to Indian universities. These aberrations can happen anywhere. They have occurred in the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) where meritorious students have had their degrees withheld by professors.
They have happened in well known Ivy League colleges in America where students are unable to complete their doctoral programs for the same reason. They happen all the time in our college campuses where the hapless students find no reprieve. Parents themselves are largely responsible for these deviations. If they showed greater incolvement in their children's education - apart from paying the tuition fees - our schools and colleges would become safer places.
Parent-teacher rapport is very important in a child's education. Even at the undergraduate or graduate levels, this rapport should continue without hampering the student's private space. The concept of a parent teacher association at the college level was visualised by a former vice-chancellor of Bangalore University and implemented successfully during his tenure.
Such active associations would not only establish greater rapport among teachers, students and their guardians, but they would go a long way in preventing misbehaviour among teachers and students. Sexual harassment would not go unnoticed or unchecked. It is time that all state universities and private colleges encouraged parents to form vigilant groups on campuses to check such incidents like the one that happened in Dharwad in the Karnatak University.
Schools, colleges and university departments should become places where young minds can learn and develop in a clean environment.
They should not be places where parents fear for their children's safety, or where young learners fear to tread. Let the ugly episode in one of our prestigious state universities act as an eye opener to the authorities. It should be the last of its kind.