From time to time the UT Education Department has issued circulars cautioning school staff against inflicting any kind of physical punishment on the students, however in most of the schools, corporal punishment remains common "to maintain discipline".

A cross-section of principals, teachers, parents and students who spoke to Chandigarh Newsline today had diverse opinions on whether or not teachers should resort to corporal punishment. Most principals and teachers contended that in certain situations they had no choice but to strike unruly students; students and parents, by and large, do not agree.

One of the school principals justified corporal punishment on the plea that teachers are next to parents. "When a child does something wrong, his parents slap him to make him realise; teachers should also have the same right However, teachers should first try to explain to him." He said that one odd slap from a teacher could not have led to this incident and insinuated that there was something more to it.

Supporting the cause of teachers, convenor of the Government Teacher's Union Harbir Singh Anand said that teachers should not be held responsible for such incidents. "We are teachers and have certain duties and responsibilities and are not mere dummies." He justified the teachers actions on the grounds that "looking into a student's complaint of theft was the right thing to do, he sought the help of a lady teacher to get to the bottom of the matter, but now parents are up in arms and holding them responsible for the girl's death." He agreed that an inquiry should be conducted to ascertain the truth, but objected to "unnecessary harassment" of teachers.

A senior teacher in one of the model schools pointed: "Education Department guidelines stipulate a maximum class size of 40, but few schools can adhere to this and classes with as many as 70 pupils are common. When a class is small it is easy for the teacher to maintain order but in a big class the best teacher in the world will find teaching difficult."

According to another teacher "often parents request us to discipline their children even if it means beating them. Teachers should adjust punishment according to the age and health of the child." Education Department officials blame the students' family backgrounds. "These are students from the lower strata of society; the seniors fight and the younger ones steal and lie. Teachers have to slap them occasionally," an official remarked.

Meanwhile, Under Secretary (Education) D.S. Mangat (who is also DPI-Schools) has once again reiterated departmental orders about corporal punishments.

Parents are far from convinced of the "necessity" of hitting the students. Says one parent: "Make a child stand in the sun or run five rounds in the ground but no caning. Caning a child in public without even verifying the facts inflicts immense mental and physical trauma. A teacher should counsel him so that he does not repeat the mistake."

The president of Sector 38 school PTA, Ravinder Saini, favours a "middle path" to deal with difficult elements, a path which steers clear of corporal punishment and raises moral standards.

The incident has left students upset and angry; most want teachers who resort to corporal punishment suspended. "It's the students who don't take tuitions from the teacher who get slapped," one student remarked cynically.

Others spoke disparagingly of "frustrated" or "vindictive" teachers. Anil, a plus-one student lashed out: "Teachers are supposed to be smarter than us; smart means you use your brain to deal with situations. Hitting and kicking shows brawn, not brains. They are in authority they can do so many things to maintain discipline but all they can think of is getting violent. This shows they're stupid and I look down on them." His friend, Vishal, nods in agreement, "teachers should feel ashamed" of beating a child and thought that "scolding in front of the entire class is enough humiliation".

Deepti, another plus-one student of GMSSS-10 suggested that in extreme cases the student could be rusticated but should never be beaten. "Teachers should not take action against a student without proof that he or she is guilty," she says.