Teacher “sellotape” to silence kids in class

A video clip showing a woman teacher purportedly putting sellotape across the mouths of two kids — both in lower kindergarten — to shut them up during a class went viral on Friday.

The 24-second footage, captured in a CCTV camera installed in a classroom at Narayana e-Techno School in Sector 37C, was watched by thousands of people after a "former" employee of the school posted it on his Facebook page in the morning. Around 800 students are enrolled in this private school, between nursery and Class IX.

The school authorities claimed that the incident had happened around one and a half months ago, and that they had suspended the teacher seen in the clip immediately after it.

Girish Pandey, who uploaded the video around 7am on Friday, said he was sitting in the school's security room where he watched the incident on one of the CCTV monitors. "I was shocked to see a teacher pasting sellotape on the mouths of a boy and a girl, both 4 years old, apparently to silence them during a class. There were other students and another woman teacher, who were watching the whole episode in shocked silence."

School principal Guru Raj said they had taken strict action against the teacher after parents complained about the incident in October. "Some children come from rural background and use very filthy language. I'm not saying that she had not done it… she has been punished for that. The school handed her the suspension letter within two days," said the principal.

Raj said the school had also called parents and explained them everything — what had happened and what action had been taken.

Surender Sharma, the parent of one of the two kindergarten students who were "punished for talking in the class", said, "My kid is naughty, and the teacher had taken disciplinary action. She told me that she had put paper on the kids' mouths but there was no gum on it."

Principal Raj blamed Pandey for deliberately triggering a controversy and maligning the school's image.

"The person, who posted this video on the social media, was our transport in-charge. But he has been absent from his duty since Diwali. We gave him two notices since then, and were planning to remove him and hire someone else in his place. He has taken revenge against the school for that," the principal claimed.

According to sources, Pandey was looking after six school buses. "He was also given the responsibility of manning the security room on the campus. He used to monitor the CCTV cameras, and in case of any problem, he used to inform the principal. He had seen the incident (teacher putting sellotape) on the screen and apparently took out a copy."

But Pandey said, "I am still working with the school. But since my father is suffering from a tumour ailment, I'm currently in my home town."