No schoolteacher in the State should engage in private tuitions or private teaching activity, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has said.
The commission of member K. Nazeer was acting on a petition by a resident of Nedumudi in Alappuzha panchayat.
The petitioner alleged that a tuition centre named Phoenix that was located near Poopalli junction in Nedumudi panchayat was conducting online classes during April-May in the 2020-21 academic year which the government had declared as summer vacation. The tuition centre was run by an aided school teacher and his kin, and many other government and aided schoolteachers took classes there. The centre was not registered with the panchayat.
The panchayat secretary, in a report to the commission, said the tuition centre was functioning without the panchayat’s permission. In the 2020-21 academic year, in the wake of COVID-19 protocols, no tuition centres were given permission to function, and Phoenix conducted only online classes during this time.
The centre principal also attested that only online classes were held, and no COVID-19 guidelines were violated.
The commission, which did not pass a specific order in the case, said that as per Section 28 of the Right to Education Act, no teacher shall engage in private tuition or private teaching activity. Involvement in any such activity should be prevented strictly in the State, the panel said, directing the General Education Secretary and the Director of General Education to pass orders in this regard.
