The current study looked at the ongoing discrepancy between policy and reality regarding the Right to

Education (RTE) Act, 2009's ban on corporal punishment in Indian schools. Despite the Act's formal

prohibition on all types of physical and psychological abuse of children, there was evidence that corporal

punishment persisted in some form, especially in government and rural institutions. Teachers, administrators,

environments that are in line with the goals of the RTE Act, the study emphasized the necessity of extensive

teacher sensitization programs, more robust policy enforcement mechanisms, and community-level

campaigning.

attitudes, child rights, school discipline.

India has a long history of using corporal punishment in schools, which is frequently defended as a time-

honored strategy to maintain order and raise student achievement. Such actions, however, are in stark contrast

to national laws and contemporary child rights concepts that prioritize the protection, dignity, and respect of

inadequate implementation mechanisms, and low awareness frequently erode progressive legislation. Despite

being aware of the law, teachers and administrators usually find it difficult to substitute child-friendly

strategies for punitive ones because of a lack of proper training, high student-teacher ratios, and institutional

pressure to uphold academic standards and discipline. Instead of being acknowledged as a violation of rights,

physical punishment is nevertheless accepted as a legitimate disciplinary measure in many underfunded and

rural schools.

In the context of Indian education, the current study investigated this discrepancy between the intention of

policies and their actual implementation. It looked into how well schools followed the RTE Act's ban on

physical punishment, assessed administrators' and teachers' knowledge of and attitudes toward disciplinary

measures, and pinpointed institutional and cultural elements that contribute to policy breakdowns. The study

prohibition of the RTE Act has little effect on altering the behavioral attitudes of teachers, particularly in public

institutions with lax oversight and accountability. Nawani pointed out that rather than seeing corporal

punishment as a breach of children's rights, many instructors saw it as a useful tool for establishing discipline.

The problem persisted in part because there were no formal channels for reporting and dealing with infractions.

Tiwari (2014) examined how the ban on corporal punishment was being implemented in Delhi's schools and

discovered that teachers had to balance upholding classroom discipline with following the law. The study

found that many teachers justified the use of corporal punishment as a necessary and corrective measure even

though they were aware of the prohibition. Tiwari's research revealed that teachers frequently used subtle or

hidden types of punishment, resulting in superficial conformity. In order to bring classroom management

techniques into compliance with child rights principles, the study emphasized the necessity of more stringent

that addressing the social and cultural aspects of classroom discipline was just as important as upholding legal

prohibitions in order to achieve fair and beneficial educational outcomes.

Sawhney (2018) offered a critical viewpoint on how educators reacted to the prohibition on corporal

punishment. Sawhney discovered through qualitative interviews with Indian educators that the ban was

frequently viewed by them as a formality that had nothing to do with actual classroom issues. Many educators

felt that upholding discipline and academic integrity was challenging in the absence of some kind of penalty.

According to the study, teachers' ambivalence about the ban was a reflection of both their lack of institutional

support for using non-violent disciplining techniques and their marginalization in the policy-making process.

Maheshwari (2021) examined the RTE Act's larger framework and talked about how, despite being progressive,

its requirements were difficult to implement in practice. The report noted that although the Act provided for

Odisha. Their research showed that both teachers and pupils had relatively little knowledge of the Act's

measure was sustained in these underprivileged areas due to a lack of infrastructure, a lack of teacher

responsibility, and ingrained socioeconomic issues. The writers came to the conclusion that localized

awareness, empowerment, and administrative follow-up were just as important to the RTE Act's efficacy as

legislation.

The goal of the current study was to examine the discrepancy between the Right to Education (RTE) Act of

2009's formal ban on physical punishment and how it is actually used in Indian schools. Despite the RTE Act's

clear prohibition on the physical and psychological abuse of children, numerous research and reports have

shown that corporal punishment is still used in both urban and rural schools. The study's objectives were to

investigate the causes of this disparity, gauge administrators' and instructors' awareness, and comprehend the

punishment.

A descriptive and exploratory approach was used in the study, which made it possible to fully comprehend both

the trends in compliance and the causes of non-compliance with the RTE rules. This method made data

triangulation easier and offered a fair interpretation of both narrative and statistical results.

Three districts in Bihar, India, representing urban, semi-urban, and rural educational contexts, were used for

the study. Diversity in institutional and socioeconomic origins was guaranteed by this decision. The target

market includes school administrators, teachers, pupils between the ages of 10 and 14 years, and parents of

enrolled kids.

Including a variety of stakeholders allowed for the recording of a range of viewpoints on the matter, from

proportionate random sampling were used to select participants.

There were 400 participants in all, including 100 parents, 120 instructors, 150 children, and 30 school

administrators. Meaningful comparative analysis was made possible by this sample's sufficient representation

across institutional levels and socioeconomic backgrounds.

To improve accuracy and comprehension, a variety of data collection methods were used. Teachers and

administrators were given structured questionnaires to complete in order to collect quantitative information on

their awareness levels, compliance with policies, and exposure to training. A five-point Likert scale was used

in the design of these surveys in order to measure attitudes and levels of compliance.

Teachers, parents, and children participated in semi-structured interviews to discuss their opinions and

statistical techniques such frequency distribution, mean, and percentage. Chi-square tests were used for

inferential analysis to look at relationships between institutional type, compliance behavior, and policy

awareness.

After being transcribed, theme analysis was applied to qualitative data obtained from focus groups and

interviews. We discovered and examined emerging themes such administrative apathy, lack of responsibility,

policy understanding, and cultural acceptance of punishment. A thorough understanding of the policy-practice

gap was made possible by the combination of quantitative and qualitative data.

The results of the field study were reported in this chapter along with a discussion of how they related to the

According to the research, 42% of the teachers agreed that corporal punishment was required, and nearly half

(48%) said that the RTE ban made it harder to implement discipline. This exposed a deeply ingrained cultural

belief that associated discipline with power and dominance. Particularly in rural areas, teachers tended to see

corporal punishment as a valid teaching method rather than a violation of students' rights.

The study's conclusions showed that although the RTE Act was known, its application in real-world situations

was still lacking. A number of interconnected reasons may be responsible for the continued use of corporal

punishment. First, it was discovered that teacher preparation on positive discipline techniques and child rights

was insufficient. Second, there was minimal accountability for infractions and a lack of institutional

The study also found that because of a lack of administrative control and a lower level of parental awareness,

schools in rural locations experienced more severe implementation gaps. Urban private schools, on the other

hand, demonstrated comparatively greater adherence to RTE requirements, in part because of increased

management accountability and a concern about reputational harm.

These statistical results were corroborated by the qualitative interviews. Numerous educators acknowledged

that, rather than being a conscious act of cruelty, corporal punishment was frequently applied in irritation with

big class sizes, workloads, or perceived lack of discipline. In contrast, parents frequently tolerated minor

punishment as a "corrective" measure, which reflected the normality of such behavior over generations.

The study came to the conclusion that there was still a large discrepancy between policy and practice in Indian

schools, even though corporal punishment was illegal under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Even though

was maintained by deeply ingrained cultural attitudes, inadequate teacher preparation, a lack of accountability,

and inadequate monitoring systems. According to the findings, policy awareness by itself was not enough to

change behavior; instead, systematic sensitization, improved institutional oversight, and community

School Students. Journal of Ravishankar University, 30(2), 64-74.

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5. Maheshwari, S. (2021). The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. Indian JL

& Legal Rsch., 2, 1.

6. Mann, M. (2014). Prohibition of Corporal Punishments & Innovative Methods of Positive Discipline.

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8. Sahoo, D., & Mishra, S. (2020). Perception of Students about Right of Children to Free and Compulsory