Karnataka: Who taught these children not to eat the food prepared by a Dalit?
- Children studying in a Nanjanagud school boycotted the midday meal as it was prepared by a Dailt
- The woman of the Backward Class appointed to cook midday meal for the students was absent
- Her assistant, a Dalit woman, was asked to cook for the children
- But when students came to know that the cook was a Dalit, they refused to consume food
- Are teachers responsible for such behaviour of students or the parents?
FollowChief Minister Siddaramaiah’s hometown Mysuru is in the news for wrong reasons again. The children studying in a school boycotted the midday meal as it was prepared by a Dailt.
Going by the number of similar incidents it is surely not the first time such a practice is being noticed. But at a time when politicians are ‘playing the game’ of going into Dalit’s houses and eating food in their houses, young children boycotting food prepared by a Dailt is surely a shocker.
It so happened that the woman of the Backward Class appointed to cook midday meal for the students was absent and her assistant, a Dalit woman was asked to prepare food. But as soon as the children came to know that the woman was a Dalit, they refused to eat the meal.
But the question remains, how do children know that they should not eat the meal prepared by a Dailt? Do the teachers teach them this lesson or they get this ‘knowledge’ from home? It is not possible that students of primary schools themselves would have taken this decision on their own.
Whether they got this idea from teachers or at home, it is a dangerous trend. What do the schools teach the children? If this is how students are educated, the future does not look bright.
At a time when there are efforts to divide people on the basis of the food they eat, dress they wear or their belief, children being taught to refuse the food prepared by a Dalit is really shocking.
Just appointing the person from other caste or class with which children do not have any problem, is not the solution. But they should be taught the lesson of equality in the school itself. Just imagine what they will grow to be with this mentality.
What is the use of schools and education if it just makes the students literate and does not allow them to think, instead forces the stereotypical opinions and notions on the children. Our education system is not only flawed in terms of syllabus but also with relation to the attitude of teachers and the total school experience.
The state should take stern action against the school authorities which try to imbibe such notions of partiality in the students.
