India, Sept. 2 -- What do a three-year-old boy in outer Delhi's Maujpur, a six-year-old boy in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam, a 10-year-old girl in east Delhi's Vinod Nagar and a 16-year-old girl in Haryana's Faridabad have in common? Avoidable tragedy.

The parents of all four children have alleged that they suffered cruelty at the hands of teachers and school staff, in some cases involving allegations of inhuman punishment or irate teachers lashing out. In Maujpur, the boy was allegedly tied to a chair for hours and subjected to severe physical abuse over several days at a playschool. In Visakhapatnam, police said the boy collapsed in the classroom and died after being slapped by his teacher for not completing his homework. In Vinod Na...