TN to invoke POCSO Act for misbehaviour during online classes

The Tamil Nadu government will soon invoke the POCSO Act (The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) against those who misbehave during online classes.

The state education department will also frame guidelines to regulate online classes in schools to prevent sexual harassment of students. This was announced by Chief minister M.K. Stalin in a press statement on Wednesday night.

Advertisement

The chief minister said that the school education department will prepare the guidelines in a week and a committee is constituted of the commissioner of school education department, police officials of cyber crime wing and crime against children, academicians and IT experts.

A helpline will be set up for students to complain and the state cyber wing will investigate the complaints received.

This comes after students of a highly reputed CBSE school of Chennai complained against the Commerce teacher of the school for misbehaving with them during online classes by wearing only a bath towel during the classes. The teacher was arrested and remanded in Judicial custody under the POCSO Act.

Stalin said, schools should record the online classes and the recordings reviewed periodically by committee of parent-teacher associations.