The commission that decides child rights complaints against Kerala's schools

Background

A complaint that a school in Kerala has punished a child wrongly is decided by the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, which has ordered that boys and children who have not affirmed a gender identity have the freedom to grow their hair according to their preference and are not to be removed from class, discriminated against or subjected to punitive action over its length. The Commission attached conditions: the hair is to be kept clean and safe and is not to cover the eyes or face, and it must be tied or secured with a hairband during laboratory activities, sports competitions and practical classes. The Commission came into existence in 2013. It was created under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act 2005 and the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Rules 2012. For the Commission's purposes, children are individuals who fall between the ages 0 and 18. Its stated frame of reference is the child rights perspective in the Constitution of India and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, to which India became a signatory in 1992. The Commission says it works with Government, Police, Judiciary and Local Self Government Institutions, and its office is at Thiruvananthapuram.