Kerala Public School, NML

Kerala Public School, NML, has devised a method of constructive punishment for its children. What’s more, it has hogged international limelight for it.

Four teachers from the cradle — Moushumi Das, Keya Das, Priyanka Barua and Ashish Prasad — will fly to Taiwan next week to showcase their model that helps a child learn from his mistakes at the 2013 edition of International Convention on Quality Circle Competition.

The annual event, which aims to seek solutions to organisational problems and is largely attended by corporate firms from 13 nations, will be held from October 22 to 25 at Taipei.

Sources at KPS said they were the only school from the state to participate in the competition.

In India, the selection process is monitored by Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI). The KPS team, which calls itself STEADY — Stress to ensure assertive discipline in youth — participated through QCFI’s Durgapur chapter and qualified the regional round. It then went on to excel at the national selection at Kanpur last year and qualified for the international event.

The model, based on assertive discipline, shows how students can be disciplined without the rod.

So, when a child makes a mistake, he is not scolded. Instead, he is called to the assembly and made to accept the mistake in front of the whole school. The experience prevents the child from repeating the act.

The team members claimed that the system, followed at their cradle, has worked well.

“Students have improved because the punishments are constructive. The penalty varies depending on the violations committed like absenteeism, bullying and use of derogatory language. Children are also made to write the reasons for their actions on an introspection sheet, “ said Moushumi, one of the team members.

The school has also implemented a norm of appreciation, under which teachers must praise a child when he abides by school regulations or performs well in any field. Often, children are also lauded in the assembly for their good work. When an entire class remains disciplined, it earns a pat too.

“As far as I know, we are the only school to participate in the convention from the state. It makes me feel great as a principal that we have tried to work on our shortcomings and received recognition for it. Winning is not as important as participation,” said school principal Shanta Vaidyanathan.