Members of the Swaziland Parliament
want corporal punishment brought back to schools. Some said teachers were
unable to cope with children without caning them.
Beating was banned in Swazi
schools in 2015 and the Ministry of Education and Training adopted
an approach it called ‘positive discipline’ which did not include beating
children.
MPs debated the cane at the
Ministry of Education and Training portfolio committee on Wednesday (15 March
2017).
According to a report in
the Swazi Observer, ‘The MPs said
they didn’t understand why the ministry had decided to do away with corporal
punishment as they (MPs) were a result of it.’
The MPs said the positive
discipline adopted in schools was causing problems for teachers because they no
longer knew how to deal with wayward pupils.
MP Thuli Dladla, a former
teacher, said, ‘Corporal punishment, if done properly, is positive. There are
situations that need one to use this type of punishment to drive the message
home.’
The newspaper added, ‘She
said children needed to be beaten from time to time to keep them in check.’
Another former teacher, MP
Mabulala Maseko, said the violence in schools was at its all-time high because
the pupils were being positively disciplined.
MP Mthokozisi Kunene said children
needed, ‘to be beaten from time to time’.
Responding, Dr Phineas
Magagula, Minister of Education and Training, said the abolition of corporal punishment
conformed with international conventions the kingdom had signed to.
The cane was abolished
after numerous cases of brutality were reported in schools across the kingdom.
In 2011, Swaziland was told
by the United
Nations Human Rights Periodic Review held in Geneva it should
stop using corporal punishment in schools, because it violated the rights
of children.
But the practice of whippings and floggings was so
ingrained in Swazi schools at the time that the top teachers’ union official
said he was surprised that inflicting corporal punishment was against a child’s
rights.
The United Nations Human Rights Periodic Review received
a report jointly written by Save The Children and other groups that corporal
punishment in Swazi schools was out of control. The report highlighted Mhlatane
High School in northern Swaziland where it said pupils were ‘tortured’ in the
name of punishment.
The report stated, ‘Students at this school are also
subjected to all forms of inhumane treatment in the name of punishment. The State
has known about the torture of students that go on at Mhlatane High School for
a long time, but has not done anything to address this violation of fundamental
rights.’
Sibongile Mazibuko, President of the Swaziland
National Association of Teachers (SNAT), was quoted in the Times of Swaziland saying as teachers they had been underestimating
the impact corporal punishment had on children rights.
‘It came as a surprise what impact corporal punishment
has in terms of violating children’s rights. In fact, we were not aware we are
violating children’s rights. The submissions by the countries and the criticism
received by the country during the meeting was an eye-opener that corporal
punishment should be abolished,’ the Times
quoted Mazibuko saying.
See also
CANE BANNED IN SWAZI SCHOOLS
SWAZI SCHOOL ‘TORTURES’
STUDENTS
CHILDREN CHAINED AND
FLOGGED BARE
PROBE VICIOUS SCHOOL
BEATINGS
SCHOOL FLOGGINGS OUT OF CONTROL
SCHOOL HEAD PUBLICLY FLOGS ADULTS
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