Gaps Between Policy and Practice: Corporal Punishment Prohibition Under the RTE Act in Indian Education

Abstract

The current study looked at the ongoing discrepancy between policy and reality regarding the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009's ban on corporal punishment in Indian schools. Despite the Act's formal prohibition on all types of physical and psychological abuse of children, there was evidence that corporal punishment persisted in some form, especially in government and rural institutions. Teachers, administrators, parents, and students in a few districts of Bihar participated in both quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews as part of the study's mixed-methods approach. The results showed that although there was a fair amount of knowledge about the RTE Act, little was known about its ramifications or how it was consistently applied. The continued use of corporal punishment was facilitated by teachers' traditional views on discipline, a lack of proper training, lax institutional oversight, and societal acceptance of harsh methods. In order to guarantee the achievement of children's rights and the establishment of secure, welcoming learning environments that are in line with the goals of the RTE Act, the study emphasized the necessity of extensive teacher sensitization programs, more robust policy enforcement mechanisms, and community-level campaigning.