Don't inquire about caste in the daily journals of the students: To private schools, Coimbatore School Education Department

The Coimbatore School Education Department plans to hold a meeting on July 8 (Saturday) with private school principals instructing them to avoid asking community and caste details of the students in their daily diaries, Chief Educational Officer L. Sumathi said.

The move came after a recent petition by the Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK) members to the Collector claiming that several private schools ask the students for the caste, community, and religious details in the diary of the children. They stated that this practice must not be encouraged.

Academic Committee of Matriculation Schools Society president P. Arokia Thadayus said that the student details are maintained at the school office, administration, and teacher levels for reference purposes only. “It is also recorded in attendance registers in nearly all private schools. It is not compulsory. Some parents refuse to fill the columns and we do not force them to add the details,” he added.

Federation of Tamil Nadu Students’ Parents Welfare Association president S Arumainathan said this is not an official record of the information and hence must be avoided by the institutions. “A community certificate is requested by the State for the common exams for scholarship purposes, which is compulsory. Some parents may fear that there may be segregation by teachers, even if the schools deny any such instances. Hence, it must be eliminated.”

The CEO told The Hindu that a circular will be issued soon and awareness among principals will be given in a meeting that is to be held on July 8. “Government schools are banned from recording this in attendance registers. Private schools can follow suit,” she added.