Calcutta, 12 April (Telegraph): The Church is telling Calcutta schoolteachers: mind your language.

The Church of North India (CNI) has recommended training teachers how to behave in the classroom after two students of reputable missionary-run institutions committed suicide in February because they were allegedly “humiliated” in school.

A source said an internal probe failed to confirm whether “classroom incidents” had triggered the twin suicides — first by a Class XII girl and then by a Class VIII boy — but the CNI was convinced that teacher-student interaction needed to improve.

“We are shocked (by the incidents) because apart from having high academic standards, all our institutions maintain a very student-friendly atmosphere. But we need to try and make our education system even better,” said Ashoke Biswas, the bishop of the Calcutta Diocese of the CNI.

The CNI advisory focuses more on how teachers need to moderate their behaviour towards students rather than how discipline should be enforced. It recommends that teachers be handed a list of words and phrases they should avoid while communicating. They must also be made aware of the legal implications of verbal abuse.

“Teachers should avoid making negative remarks because that can have a long-term effect on young minds. A teacher might casually tell a boy of 10 that he is good for nothing, not realising how that can lower his self-esteem,” said Supriya Dhar, the secretary of the La Martiniere schools.

A common complaint is that most teachers focus their attention on the more intelligent students, leaving the rest battling an inferiority complex. “A partisan attitude can drive a student to serious depression,” said a CNI official.

Dhar said the La Martiniere schools were already taking steps to eradicate any trace of favouritism. “Students spend as much time in school as they do at home, and we are trying to make each student feel happy to be in school.”