Students in a panchayat union primary school (PUPS) near Anchetti in Tamil Nadu were allegedly asked to clean the school classroom using broomsticks and fill water in the bathroom. According to an Erumathanapalli villager and a parent of a child studying in PUPS Erumathanapalli, "Last week, a Class III girl cried and returned home, alleging that she was asked by her teacher to clean the school bathroom and fill water in the bathroom bucket."
He added that apart from this, students were asked to clean the classroom using broomsticks and a video was recorded of the incident on April 18 morning. He added that following the issue last week about bathroom cleaning, people had informed Denkanikottai District Education Officer Anbalagan, who assured them that an inquiry would take place regarding the issue, but nothing happened for over a week.
When contacted, PUPS headmaster Ismail Beevi said that 34 students are in the school but she didn't ask students to clean the bathroom. "The bathroom doesn't have a pipeline connection, so when there is no worker in the school during the afternoons, students fill the bucket with water. It was on Monday when the school worker was on leave. At the time, students got a key from a nearby shop and started to clean the classroom. So there is no intention to clean the school and bathroom by the students," she explained. Krishnagiri Chief Education Officer KP Maheshwari said that she will inquire with the DEO regarding the issue.
