PARENTS SUPPORT CORPORAL PUNISHMENT

By Florence Mugarula

Morogoro — Physical punishment has been a controversial issue in most schools in the country. Last month, a video went viral showing teachers attacking a student in Mbeya Region.

The government reacted and appropriate measures were taken. Such incidents have been reported in many parts of the country and it has been difficult for the government to take serious disciplinary and legal measures against teachers due to various reasons, including lack of tangible evidence and full information on the matter.

According to a study 'Effects of corporal punishment and psychological treatment on students' learning and behavior by an academician, Mr Mohammad Shahbaz Arif, students who are awarded corporal punishment show lack of interest in their academic work.

They start to show negative behavior, whereas the students who are managed with psychological treatment develop interest in learning, reflect friendly behavior and improve their long-term scholastic performance.

According to the survey conducted by this reporter in Morogoro region, many parents and students who were interviewed admitted that corporal punishment was one of the reasons behind school dropout and poor performance among students. Speaking to the Daily News, some students said many students are used to the situation and they think corporal punishment is part and parcel of their school life.

One of the students, Omar Mjitta, said there is no single student who can stand and state categorically that he has never came across corporal punishment at school. "I can tell you, there is no single student in our school who has never come across corporal punishment, it is a normal thing and nobody cares," he said.

Anitha Sambara, a secondary school student, said corporal punishment starts from nursery school to secondary school. "We are used to this situation from early age," she said.

However, according to the survey, most students know about school regulations but they are not aware of the punishment that is connected to each regulation, when it is breached. Johanes John said corporal punishments have been affecting students' performance in schools since they have negative effect psychologically.

He said a good number of his friends dropped out of school because of corporal punishment. "There is a time when you wake up in the morning thinking of punishments at school instead of studies, it reaches a time when some students decide to drop out of school and run away," he said.

The idea was supported by some parents in Morogoro municipality who said that corporal punishments have been the source of problems and poor performance among students in the region. One of parents, Mr Omar Muhamed said some teachers are source of the problem. He said there was a time when his children refused to go to school because of punishments. "I followed this matter to school and realized that teachers were too harsh, I talked to them and things went well," he said.

However, Mr Mohamed admitted that his children were also part of the problem because they were shunning classes. "I came to realize that teachers started to hunt for my children because they were not attending classes, so they knew from the beginning that they were wrong and that teachers were going to heavily punish them," he said.

Mr Mohamed said parents and children need to work together to address challenges at schools instead of awarding corporal punishments to students. Another parent, Mr Rashidi Mpala said some teachers tend to ease their frustrations by attacking students. He said his children have been victims of the bad practice.

"It is obvious, sometimes a child comes from school saying the teacher has beaten her/him, and when you inspect his body, you real see it with eyes that he has been injured, OI think this is not proper," he said.

According to Mr Mpala, many parents are not aware of school regulations and law that protect students from excessive corporal punishments. He said many parents respect teachers and consider them as fellow parents.

"Sometimes, it is very difficult for a parent to confront a teacher in this area, we respect them. Some parents and almost all students believe teachers are always right! This is a challenge, I think teachers must emulate that respect and behave responsibly," he said.

He said what happened in Mbeya recently is a vivid example of incidents that take place in most of public schools in the country. According to the law, corporal punishment is lawful in schools, for boys and girls, under the National Education (Corporal Punishment) Regulations 1979 pursuant to article 60 of the National Education Act 1978, which authorises the minister to make regulations "to provide for and control the administration of corporal punishment in schools".

Corporal punishment according to these Regulations means "punishment by striking a pupil on his hand or on his normally clothed buttocks with a light, flexible stick but excludes striking a child with any other instrument or on any other part of the body".

The Law of the Child Act 2009 does not prohibit corporal punishment in schools nor repeal the provisions for it in the Education Act and Regulations. Some teachers who were interviewed blamed parents for failure to direct their children to proper direction. A teacher from Kingo secondary said teachers face challenges from the government and parents. He said some parents have failed to discipline their children and they believe teachers can change their bad behaviour. He added that at the same time, the government does not entertain corporal punishments.

"It is very challenging, we understand that a teacher is not allowed to provide corporal punishment to a student unless there is communication with the Headmaster or a school teacher, but honestly speaking, it is very difficult to adhere to the needs of this law," he said.

DAILY NEWS