Ranchi: Corporal punishments of all forms in Jharkhand schools will soon be banned. The state government has decided to frame suitable rules under the Right to Education Act (REA) to enforce it in all schools across Jharkhand.

The move to frame the rules, banning corporal punishments in school, follows Chief Minister Sibu Soren’s recent announcements which came at an orientation session of the legislators on REA which was held under the joint aegis of the United Nations Children Education Fund (Unicef) and the State Human Resource Department.

Primary Education Director DK Saxena told the iGovernment that a direction banning corporal punishment, including physical and mental abuse, would be issued soon. “As far as framing of rules is concerned, the exercise will be completed later on,” he added.

By doing so, Jharkhand has joined the clubs of 19 states of the country that has banned corporal punishments, which include beating with hands, stick and cane. Penciling fingers, twisting hands, making children stand up in the sun, rooster position; chair position, verbal abuse, scolding, threatening and humiliating also come under the purview of corporation punishment.

Studies conducted on the condition of education in the state by various agencies, including that of the Unicef, revealed that corporal punishment was one of the main reasons for drop outs in schools.

"About 22 per cent of schools going children in Jharkhand drop out due to corporal punishment. The victims of corporation punishments do not report the issue and suffer in silence," Unicef State unit Chief Prakash Gurnani said.

Justifying the government’s move to ban corporal punishments, Deputy Chief Minister Raghubar Das and HRD Minister Hemlal Murmu said that punishment not only affected emotional behaviour and academic performance of students, but also damages their self-esteem. And this causes a long-lasting impact on personality development of children,” they added.