Chitra Rao, principal of NPS HSR Layout has spoken to Bangalore Mirror regarding the case of the student who committed suicide recently after being suspended by the school. It’s a good interview and Rao makes some important points, but there are a couple of things about the report that I found funny.
The first thing might sound funny because only Rao’s responses have been published and not the questions she was asked. Nevertheless, in the interests of humour I’ll give the benefit of doubt to Bangalore Mirror and assume that the only question they asked were those that have been reported. So Rao says:
All I can say is I handled the issue with compassion. The tone was always gentle and never derogatory. I never intended to humiliate. I also want to state that NPS is not a pressure cooker and we have a host of activities for the holistic development of the child
The second sentence here is key. From the article it doesn’t appear that Bangalore Mirror asked her a question about the pressure at NPS, but she made it a point to mention that. That she has made it a point to mention that “NPS is not a pressure cooker” without any prompting is telling, in my opinion.
Then later on in the piece (it’s a fairly long one), the piece reports a letter that Bindu Hari, director of NPS, sent to parents of students. The piece says:
The letter also added that the school’s policy on discipline and pastoral care emphasises behaviour modification through guidance and counselling. It was a step-wise and sequenced process keeping intact student dignity.
I’m quite intrigued by the use of the word “pastoral” here. For when I see the word “pastoral”, the first thing I think about is sheep. And if the school’s official letter claims that they offer “pastoral care”, then it all starts making sense!
Overall it is a sad issue – who is to say what is right for a school to police or not? I remember similar things happening in Aurobindo but the ones who did get caught were able to laugh it off and the rest just toed the line and did whatever they wanted outside school premises…
The way Aurobindo handled things is very very different from the way NPS did. And when I made the switch the transition was quite shocking.
I don’t think schools should have any problems with its students hugging/kissing/making out/fucking as long as decorum is maintained within school premises. How students behave within the school premises, though, is of importance to the school, and they should do what it takes to maintain decorum.
And using methods that people laugh off (but which has the desired impact) is significantly superior to others! Then again way too many grey areas and all that.
Pastoral care is a very Catholic term. The pope refers to this concept quite often.
yeah about “the Lord being our shepherd” and so on. but NPS is not a catholic school. It’s fairly secular, in that there are no religious activities of any kind that happen inside the school.
and so if NPS calls itself “pastoral” I can only think of sheep!