A schoolteacher in
Swaziland / eSwatini has been arrested after allegedly whipping a 10-year-old
boy.
In the latest case reported,
the boy from Gilgal Primary School needed treatment at a health centre.
The teacher whipped the boy
and kicked him while he was on the ground, according to a report in the Times of
Swaziland. He was punished for defying the teacher, the
newspaper said. He received a bruised lip, a swollen cheek and bruises on his
back.
The teacher, Thulile
Fortunate Mhlanga, aged 39, was charged under the Children Protection and
Welfare Act.
There have been numerous reports of teachers illegally
using corporal punishment. In March 2019 a 12-year-old girl at Mkhuzweni Primary School had her
fingers broken when she was caned
25 times across her hand.
In November 2018 it
was reported police were investigating St Theresa’s Primary
School, Manzini, following an allegation that teachers whipped children to make
them do better in their exams. In June 2018 teachers reportedly
caned every pupil at Mbuluzi High School for poor
performance.
In August 2017 it
was reported boys at Salesian High, a Catholic school, were
forced to take down their trousers and underpants to allow teachers to beat
them on the bare buttocks.
In May 2017 pupils at Lubombo Central Primary School in Siteki were
thrashed because they did not bring enough empty milk cartons to
class.
In March 2017 children at Masundvwini Primary School boycotted
classes because they lived in fear of the illegal corporal punishment they
were made to suffer. Local media reported that children were hit with a stick,
which in at least one case was 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.’
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.
See also
Children
fear beatings, miss school
Cane
banned in Swazi schools
Teachers
beat boys on naked buttocks
Research
in Swaziland suggests spanking children is harmful and can cause mental
problems
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