Pupils at a primary school
in Swaziland were thrashed because they did not bring enough empty milk cartons
to class.
It happened at Lubombo Central Primary School in Siteki, according
to a report in the Times of Swaziland on Tuesday (20 May 2017).
After years of physical
abuse of children, in 2015 corporal
punishment in schools was abolished,
but teachers across the kingdom still use it.
According to the Times, Lubombo Central Primary is
participating in a waste collection and recycling competition initiated by
dairy products manufacturing company, Parmalat Swaziland. Schools are required
to collect empty containers of Umcenge Milk, which are then collected by
Parmalat. The school which collects the most containers will be awarded with
E20,000 (US$1,520).
The Times reported that all
pupils at the school, ‘have been instructed to collect at least 10 empty
containers of Umcenge Milk per day’.
It said, ‘Pupils who fail to bring to school the containers are punished
by the head teacher.’
It quoted a source saying, ‘Last week, the head teacher visited all
classes and beat pupils who did not bring with them the containers. Some pupils
tried explaining that they couldn’t find the containers but the head teacher
continued punishing them.’
Swaziland has a long history of atrocities committed by teachers against
their pupils in the name of ‘discipline’. Even when it was permitted, there were rules about how corporal punishment
could be administered, these were largely ignored.
As recently as March 2017, children
at Masundvwini Primary School boycotted
classes because they live in fear of the illegal corporal punishment they
are made to suffer. Local media reported that children are hit with a stick,
which in at least one case is said to have left a child ‘bleeding from the head’.
In August 2016, an eight-year-old schoolboy at
Siyendle Primary School, near Gege was thrashed
so hard in class he vomited. His teacher reportedly forced classmates to
hold the boy down while he whipped him with a stick. It happened after a group
of schoolboys had been inflating condoms when they were discovered by the
teacher.
In June 2016, the school
principal at the Herefords High School was reported to police after allegedly
giving a 20-year-old female student nine strokes of the cane on the buttocks.
The Swazi
Observer reported at the time, ‘She was given nine strokes on the buttocks by the
principal while the deputy helped her by holding the pupil’s hands as she was
made to lie down, said the source.’
In September 2015, the Times reported a 17-year-old school pupil died
after allegedly being beaten at school. The pupil reportedly had a seizure.
In March 2015, a primary school teacher at the Florence Christian
Academy was charged with causing grievous bodily harm after
allegedly giving 200 strokes of the cane to a 12-year-old pupil on her buttocks
and all over her body.
In February 2015, the headteacher of Mayiwane High School Anderson Mkhonta reportedly admitted giving 15 strokes to a form 1 pupil for not wearing
a neck tie properly.
In April 2015, parents reportedly complained to the Ndlalane
Primary School after a teacher beat pupils for not following his instruction
and shaving their hair.
In October 2014, 20 pupils were thrashed before
they sat an examination because they had been absent from school studying for
the exam the previous day.
See also
SCHOOLBOY,
8, FLOGGED SO HARD HE VOMITS
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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