A feA few days back when a small boy of three years in a Camurlim Anganwadi was burnt with a hot spoon as a punishment, there was uproar all over Goa condemning this incident as brutal and inhuman. All those who made this uproar deserve highest compliments for raising this issue on top of their agenda. Fortunately, for that victim boy there was strong backing of the society and humane humans. As castigation for this brutality, the perpetrators of this brutality against the innocent kid were dismissed from their jobs. Thanks to the awareness of the society over such issues because of the media campaign done by the alert Goan media.
DuriDuring my younger days of schooling starting from the Portuguese school at Escola Primaria in my village, I still remember how our Professors used to inflict corporal punishment on us even for a small silly mistake. During those days punishing a student was the highest pleasure of our Professors. I still remember how our Professor Eduardo D’Souza while beating a young student even damaged his Ear Drum. Fortunately for him and unfortunately for Professor D’Souza the complaint went to the higher authority and then after the Portuguese authority in Goa issued a circular to all schools in Goa banning corporal punishment.
Still In my school yet another Professor of mine oblivious of the said circular used to beat the students with big sticks approximately of 2 meters long. Unfortunately, one fine morning at about 8.15, Governador Vassalo e Silva while returning back home to Panjim from Aguada, stopped at our school. His presence there went unnoticed as his motorcade consisted only of one civilian four wheeler without even having Red Beacon Light, taking all the three personnel – Governador himself, his secretary and the driver, all Pakles. When the Governador suddenly appeared on the door of our Classroom, our Professor almost fainted because of the big sticks placed on his table. As I was seated on the first bench, he pleaded with me to hide those sticks under his platform which Governador failed to notice. And since then till the end of my schooling there, I never saw those nasty sticks again.
Th Then I joined Arpora School which was the first English High School of Goa and was manned as a Principal by the very strict disciplinarian known all over Goa as the perpetrator of harsh and inhuman punishment to the students for indiscipline. Mischief and indiscipline were the part of youth but this fact the Principal of Arpora School, Fr. Philip Neri Mendonca never believed. As a consequence, he was inflicting very heavy corporal punishment on young students even for minor offences. The way he used to use his Cane on mischievous boys it looked he was correcting not human beings but “Redde ani Padde” , not only in class but even publicly and openly during the early morning Assembly sessions. For Boarders, he used to cane them by putting them on their beds. Such corporal punishment was never inflicted by any teacher anywhere in Goa during those Salazarist days in Goa. We the students of that era were the victims of such punishment. It was our misfortune for being students of that time while present day students are provided by law with lot of protection from the harsh teachers.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Candolim, Goa.
Tel: 7507394349.