Beating banned in Swaziland schools, but ‘no law’ to prosecute teachers who do

There is confusion in Swaziland / eSwatini about whether the use of corporal punishment in schools is illegal even though the government issued a directive banning it.

This emerged at Manzini when a prosecutor refused to take a teacher to court because no ‘legal instrument’ existed.

The case reported by the Times of Swaziland involved a pupil from St Theresa’s Primary School. She and others had been caned and she needed medical treatment. Police were informed and they made a case to go ahead to the magistrates’ court.

The legal prosecutor’s office refused to take it forward. The newspaper reported this was, ‘because there was no legal instrument which confirms that corporal punishment was abolished in schools in the country’.

It added, ‘without the instrument which states that corporal punishment was abolished, there was nothing they could do’. The prosecutor did not deny that the pupils had been beaten.

In 2015 a directive was issued from Swaziland’s Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) stating that corporal punishment was banned in schools. Phineas Magagula, Minister of Education and Training, warned that teachers who beat pupils should be reported to the ministry so that they could be disciplined. The ban was restated in the National Education and Training Sector Policy in 2018.  

A number of teachers have been reported to police for beating children since the directive was first issued. As recently as June 2019 a teacher at Gilgal Primary School was arrested after allegedly whipping a 10-year-old boy who needed treatment at a health centre for his injuries. The teacher, Thulile Fortunate Mhlanga, aged 39, was charged under the Children Protection and Welfare Act.

In November 2017 a  male teacher at Lozitha High School was arrested and charged for allegedly beating an 18-year-old female pupil on the buttocks with a pipe because she had not had her hair cut as instructed by the school. In Swaziland an 18-year-old is legally an adult.

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.

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 2005 The International Save the Children Alliance published research into Swazi children’s experiences of corporal punishment. Children reported being subjected to corporal punishment at school due to making a noise or talking in class, coming late to school, not completing work, not doing work correctly, failing tests, wearing incorrect uniform items, dropping litter, losing books or leaving them at home.

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. 

See also

Swaziland police investigate report children illegally beaten to encourage them to do well in exams

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/11/swaziland-police-investigate-as.html 

Swaziland teacher arrested after boy, 10, beaten for defiance, needed medical treatment

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/06/swaziland-teacher-arrested-after-boy-10.html 

Head teacher charged in beating case

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/11/head-teacher-charged-in-beating-case.html

Swazi Govt sued over school beating

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/10/govt-sued-over-school-beating.html 

Teachers beat boys on naked buttocks

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/teachers-beat-boys-on-naked-buttocks.html

Swaziland police investigate report children illegally beaten to encourage them to do well in exams

Police in Swaziland / Eswatini are investigating a report that teachers whipped primary school children to make them do better in their exams.

Beating is officially banned in schools in the kingdom but continues to be widely used.

The latest case happened at St Theresa’s Primary School, Manzini, according to the Times of Swaziland on Tuesday (6 November 2018).

It reported, ‘According to statements recorded with the police by a parent of one of the pupils, the main reason for the whipping  was to instil fear among the scholars so that they could concentrate on their external examinations and do well.’

One parent told the newspaper his 14-year-old daughter had been afraid to go to school because pupils had been told they would be beaten.

The Times quoted him saying, ‘To my surprise, my daughter came back home at around 4:30pm and she had bruises all over her body, especially on her arms and thighs.’ She needed hospital treatment. A medical report was sent to the police.

The Times added he said seven teachers beat a number of children with sticks. He said his daughter reported teachers said, ‘the beating was a warm-up, which will help them excel in their examination and it will make them focus.’

Police confirmed they were investigating.

Corporal punishment in schools in Swaziland was banned in 2015 but it is still used widely. In June 2018 teachers reportedly caned every pupil at Mbuluzi High School for poor performance. 

In September 2017 it was reported that an 11-year-old boy from Ekuphakameni Community Primary School in the outskirts of Hlatikhulu lost an eye when a cane his schoolteacher was using to illegally beat other pupils broke and splintered. 

In August 2017 it was reported that boys at Salesian High, a Catholic school, were forced to take down their trousers and underwear to be beaten on the naked 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

Cane banned in Swazi schools

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/10/beating-banned-in-swazi-school.html

Children fear beatings, miss school

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/children-fear-beatings-miss-school.html