A student of Class VI has suffered an eye injury accidentally after a para-teacher allegedly wielded a stick to control commotion in a government school in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand.

The parents of the injured boy alleged that the para-teacher had used the stick to beat some students on Tuesday and also thumped it on the bench when a portion broke away and struck the right eye of their son.

Ashok Karmali, a resident of Sargadih under Gola block, said his 11-year-old son Vivek studies in Class VI at the Upgraded Middle School. The area is around 60km from state capital Ranchi.

“We were informed at around 2pm about the incident. My son came home with blood oozing from his right eye. He told me that para-teacher (appointed on a contract basis in Jharkhand) Karpoori Pramanik Thakur was agitated as the students were shouting while he had gone out to attend a call on his mobile phone. In a fit of rage, the para-teacher shouted and took up the stick to beat students and also banged it on the bench. A portion of the stick then broke away and flew into my son’s eye,” said Ashok.

The parents said the boy was taken to a local eye hospital in Peterwar where he received primary treatment and was referred to Ranchi. The boy was on Tuesday night referred from an eye hospital in Ramgarh to the Kashyap Memorial Eye Hospital in Ranchi for advanced treatment.

The parents have not lodged any complaint in connection with the incident in the local Barlanga police station so far. The Ramgarh district administration has ordered a probe into the incident.

“On the basis of the information received, we have asked the block education officer (Mahabir Prasad) and block development officer Santosh Kumar to probe into the incident and submit the report within a day. We will take action against the para-teacher on the basis of the report,” said district superintendent of education-cum-district education officer Sushil Kumar.

“I was accompanied by the BDO, the village mukhiya (chief) and up-pramukh (deputy chief) during our visit to the school where we interacted with the students as part of the investigation. The students told us the para-teacher used the stick while explaining lessons. As the students were shouting he had banged the stick on the bench during which a portion had broken away and struck the eye of the boy. Though it was an accident, we would recommend action against the teacher for carrying a stick to class,” said Prasad.

Section 17 of the Right to Education Act, 2009, prohibits any child being subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment.