TVM govt school issues TC to autistic student for making noise in function; rights panel files case

Thiruvananthapuram: The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has directed the District Education Officer (DEO) to submit a report on an incident where a student with autism spectrum disorder was made to leave the school saying that the student made noise during a public function in school. The incident allegedly happened here at the Thycaud Government Model School.

SHRC has registered a case and acting chairperson K Baiju Nath directed the DEO to submit a report within two weeks. As per the panel's release, the school principal asked the mother to obtain a transfer certificate (TC) after the student made noise during a public function.

The mother sought relief for three months, however, the principal gave one week to obtain TC from the school saying that if the student continued in school, other children wouldn't come, the HRC release noted. It was also reported that the principal directed the mother to say that TC was being requested owing to the distance factor. The student is a resident of Manacaud, some 5 km from the school.

The school authorities acknowledged that there was an incident where the student made noise but the parent was never asked to obtain the TC. “The Headmaster spoke to the parent and told her that an option to employ one more teacher to manage the student may be considered. However, the parent responded that she would take TC and leave and that there was another school at Kuriathi which was within walking distance from their house. At that time, she did not raise any complaint,” a school official said.

The incident happened in June. The student joined as a nursery student where an ayah and a teacher used to manage the class. Once the student moved to Class 1, there was only one teacher and it was difficult to manage the student, school authorities said.