Headmaster punishes himself for poor performance of students; Lokesh reacts

Chinta Ramana, the headmaster of ZP High School, Penta, Vizianagaram district, doing sit-ups in front of the students on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

VIZIANAGARAM

A government school headmaster caught public attention by punishing himself for the students’ poor academic performance, despite repeated reminders about the benefits of education.

Chinta Ramana did sit-ups continuously after expressing his agony about the poor performance of the students in the backdrop of the beginning of the Tenth Class examinations to be held on March 17.

After pleading with the students with folded hands to perform better in the exams, the headmaster did a ‘Sastanga Namaskar’ and sit-ups.

Mr. Ramana said that he punished himself as teachers were not allowed to punish the children even if they made mistakes repeatedly.

He said the teachers do not even scold the children because they fear uproar from parents and others. “I punished myself because I didn’t have the option of punishing the students. It is the same problem for other teachers, too.”

“Self-punishment idea is a novel idea. Let us jointly improve the academic standards and pave the way for a better future for students. The overall development of students is possible with the concerted efforts of the government and teaching faculty”Nara LokeshMinister for HRD

Minister for HRD Nara Lokesh responded on X and hailed Mr. Ramana’s commitment to improving students’ academic performance. 

“Self-punishment idea is a novel idea. Let us jointly improve the academic standards and pave the way for a better future for students. The overall development of students is possible with the concerted efforts of the government and teaching faculty,” said Mr. Lokesh. 

Former Vice-Chancellor of B.R. Ambedkar University and Personality Development trainer Hanumanthu Lajapathirai said. “Punishment is part of education. Then only students would concentrate on education. The importance of discipline and punctuality are understood when the students are given small punishments. Parents should not question teachers when trying to make children study well. In the backdrop of attacks on teachers, they stopped giving punishments. Mr. Ramana’s initiative made the society discuss the serious issue,” said Dr. Lajapathirai.