Overview

• Kerala Education Minister V. Sivankutty directed an urgent inquiry by the Ernakulam Deputy Director of Education to investigate allegations that a fifth-grade student was confined in a dark room for arriving minutes late.
• The unnamed student and his father say he was forced to run laps before being told to sit alone in a dark room, while school officials maintain he was moved to another classroom.
• The Department of Education inspected the school and warned that its no-objection certificate could be revoked if similar disciplinary practices recur.
• The student’s family filed a police complaint and local student unions protested outside Cochin Public School, calling for accountability.
• Sivankutty noted that non-state-syllabus schools must adhere to state education and child protection rules and suggested enhanced teacher training for institutions outside the state framework.