Inspectors’ duty to report abuse of students: Sori

By REBECCA KUKU
School inspectors should check and report teachers who have relations with their students, says Teaching Service Commissioner Baran Sori.
He told The National that it was part of the inspectors’ duties to report any indecent behaviour or attitudes of teachers.
“The inspectors comes under the Education Secretariat and their duty is to inspect schools and teachers,” Sori said.
“If a teacher is found to have abused any student or has any relationship with their students, that teacher must be reported immediately to the secretariat and the commission.”
He made these comments after a grade 8 girld said she was raped by her teacher at a school in Southern Highlands.
Sori called on inspectors to carry out their duties diligently.
He said they should speak to the teachers and warn them against any sexual relations with students.
“There must be workshops arranged,” Sori said. “I think that teachers’ colleges and universities must start educating teachers against having any sexual relations with their students.
“Any teacher who is found to have also married their students should also be terminated from teaching, as they have broken the trust between teachers, students and their parents.”
A school inspector from Southern Highlands, who did not want to be named, said many times inspectors turned a blind eye to teachers marrying their female students.
“Although there is mutual understanding and consent from some students and their families, it is still a form of abuse as these young woman are still students and often underaged,” the inspector said.