Roll No.

: 180101120

Submission of SSR 3.0 Project Implementation Report (PIR)

Combating Corporal Punishment

By

Vicky Vijay Surywanshi

Roll No. 180101120

July, 2019

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 Acknowledgements

No task can be undertaken by a single individual without any support. It is with an enormous
sense of gratitude, with which we take the opportunity to acknowledge everybody who
helped us in the successful completion of this project.
I am highly indebted to the entire COSP team, Dr. Kasturi Das, Mr. Saumyajit Guha and
Ms.Rinku Hanspal for having given us the opportunity to participate in this wonderful
endeavour as well as guiding us through it.
I extend my gratitude to the entire team from Agrasar, Dr. Alexandra Robin, Tannu Grover
and Neeta in guiding us in the endeavour.

Project Description : Create a healthy ecosystem for underprivileged by raising awareness

about cruelty and ineffectiveness of corporal punishment

About the NGO : Agrasar is a Social Impact Organization (NGO) working with
disadvantaged communities in India to further equitable access to safe and enriching
education opportunities for children. Under its Bachpan Program, Agrasar runs community
based learning centre and has been involved in several efforts to improve the lives of
disadvantaged communities, adding in November an initiative to eliminate corporal
punishment from schools. Its efforts include the following:
● Education: Under the ‘Agrasar Bachpan’ program where they reach out to out-of-
school children and help them attain age-appropriate learning levels with a larger goal
of mainstreaming them into formal schools
● Safe schools: Under the ‘Kaagaz ki Kashti’ program, Agrasar motives and empowers
children, parents, teachers and other stakeholders to show solidarity against Corporal
Punishment and apply better, non-violent methods for achieving educational
objectives
● Employability Training Centre: Agrasar also operates a center to increase the
employability options of local youth who are unable to access job opportunities

● Societymaker: Agrasar has set up a social enterprise to empower women and

contribute to their family income and achieve greater financial independence and self-
efficacy.

Existing initiative by the NGO : Bachpan Program

Under this Initiatives aggressor runs community based Learning Center and has been
involved in several efforts improve the lives of disadvantaged communities. This was a first
step to eliminate corporal punishment from its schools. The bigger picture however was to
eliminate corporal punishment from all schools by raising awareness
Other efforts by the organisation included the following:
 Imparting knowledge to under privileged students
 Promote safe environment in all its schools
 Establish employability training centres

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Problem Faced by the organisation
The problem that we defined after our first few weeks in the course was the relative lack of
knowledge that parents and teachers had about the effect and impact of corporal punishment
on children from a very tender age. They were stubborn and held on to the belief that
punishment was the only way to instill the necessary discipline while not being adequately
worried about the long term damages the beatings, the humiliations had not just on the body
of the child but on his/her psyche. The damage done to the child can be physical such as head
trauma, impaired brain development, poor physical health etc as well as mental. Mental
damage just as important since these cannot be corrected as easily and can cause long term
problems in various ways such as; poor mental and emotional health, cognitive difficulties,
alcohol and drug abuse while there are indirect and direct societal costs for the Government
also.
With all this in our mind, our Group decided our first priority would be to inform parents in
the communities about corporal punishment, We would also talk to children, become their
friends and try and understand their mental thoughts about punishment and how to deal with
it. Our later visits would focus primarily on building an instant response towards corporal
punishment and how parents can not only identify instances, but also how they can react to
them.

The two key problems that surfaced were:

 There was a relative lack of knowledge that parents and teachers have about the effect
and impact of corporal punishment on children from a very tender age.
 There was a stubbornness in the belief that some sorts of physical punishment is
necessary to instil discipline in children.

IDEA

Inception
The project came out of Agrasar's Bachpan project through which they impart education to
underprivileged children who can then go on to study at Government or private(in case funding can be
secured) schools. However, as Agrasar celebrated one batch being successfully placed in a Govt
school, the shocking news came that their entire batch was subject to corporal punishment. Trying to
find the answer, Mr Prerit Rana soon came to understanding that this is exactly how things get done.
Punishment is how children are taught.
As Duke Ellington had said, “A problem is a chance for you to do your best.”
It was at that moment that Agrasar decided that the fight cannot be limited to education in the bridge
courses only, but to fight of corporal punishment in the schools themselves. Agrasar had celebrated
the success of every child who had made the leap to Government schools and they wanted to make
sure that the hopes and aspirations of 'their’ children as well as all the children in government and
private schools do not turn to ashes. Thus, the fight began as “Kagaz ki Kashti” as they sought to
bridge the gap between students/parents and teachers, creating an environment free of corporal
punishment.

Mission of the idea:

The main objective behind the project was to spread awareness within the teachers and
parents about the ill effects and the illegality factor of corporal punishment. This would not
only help create an open learning environment for the students but would also decrease the
high attrition rate of students.

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This was to be brought in through specific key deliverables
• Inform parents and teachers about the cruelty and ineffectiveness of corporal
punishment and its illegality
• Inform and help students to understand what acceptable and unacceptable behaviour
from teachers and parents in terms of corporal punishment
• Empower teachers and parents to utilize humane and better methods of classroom
teaching
• Remove the societal biases between teachers and students creating safe spaces for
children to learn and grow

How was the project executed?

The intention was to get in touch with as many people/neighbourhoods near the Agrasar
schools (Sikandarpur and Islampur village) and create awareness about the consequences of
corporal punishment on children at home and school.
The work was performed in two ways :
• Local Community visits: We visited the local Sikanderpur community on the first day
of our visit and later to the Islampur communities.
• Government School visits: Our final SSR visits led us to the Islampur Government
School in the village

The IMPACT created

We intended to get in touch with as many people in Sikandarpur and Islampur Village and create
awareness about the consequences of corporal punishment on children at home and school. We did
our work in two methods:
1) Local Community visits: We visited the local Sikanderpur community on the first day of
our visit and later to the Islampur communities. Our first visits to the communities were
basically to get to know them, let them know us, establish a friendly channel of
communication through which we could discuss with them.
2) Government School visits: Our final SSR visits led us to the Islampur Government
School in the village where we interacted with student of the junior section and conducted
several activities with them such as balloon activity, good things and bad things etc.

What we achieved:
● Made parents and students aware that it is not necessary that whatever the teacher
does is in the best interest of the child
● Created awareness about School Corporal Punishment that it is illegal in India and
any teacher doing it by any means can be arrested and face disciplinary consequences
● Made parents aware about what the impact of corporal punishment in the life of
children during education as well as later in their future life and its subsequent long-
term effects
● Raised awareness among parents about alternative, humane and no-violent
disciplining techniques (positive discipline) and how they can support their children’s
education

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Before the Community Awareness Program, 91% of parents approved of corporal
punishment and 74% admit to using it themselves (according to Agrasar’s report ‘Choking
Childhood’ 2018). Compared to this baseline we have initiated a thought process and made
parents reflect on the issue of corporal punishment.

Life’s Touched

We would put that number to be around 120-150. We visited around 70-80 people including
children on all our visits at the Islampur communities and nearly the same number of children
on our visits to the Government School.
Subhadip Jana, a Bengali boy who was finally convinced by us to resume going to school
after he faced violence in school and had retreated to his home

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