By OBAKENG MAJE
Corporal punishment continues to be practised in various schools across the North West province, even though it was abolished a few years ago. The latest school to allegedly practises it is Matsheng Primary School in Taung.
This comes after parents of Grade 2 learners accused a teacher of assaulting their children. According to allegations, these teachers used a sjambok as a form of punishment for learners.
One of the parents who refused to be named for fear of reprisal said: “My daughter came back home severely beaten with a sjambok. I do not think any sane teacher will beat a child like that. I need the department to take disciplinary action against all those teachers who continue to beat our children.
“Now, my daughter is afraid to go to school because of that. Why would teachers continue to use corporal punishment in schools even though it has been abolished?”
Meanwhile, the North West Department of Education spokesperson, Elias Malindi said: “The learners and parents complained about a teacher, who verbally abused the learners at the school. The teacher in question was given a written warning after a thorough investigation by the school principal.
“The concerned teacher was also changed from that class of Grade 2. Corporal punishment is not allowed in schools because it was abolished and regarded as a serious offence.”
Malindi further said, anyone found implementing corporal punishment, will be subjected to the labour processes of the department. He added that, Section 10 of the South African Schools Act provides that, no one can administer corporal punishment against a learner.
“A person who contravenes this act can face disciplinary action by the department. We are advising learners to be vocal and report any teacher who implements corporal punishment to the principal, parents and any person they trust,” said Malindi.
The department has recorded 15 assault cases against teachers during the 2022 teaching and learning calendar.
Meanwhile, the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) in North West said drastic measures should be taken against educators who continue to use corporal punishment against learners. The COSAS then president, Thabang Mokoena said corporal punishment has been abolished a long time ago because it had a negative impact on learners.
“As COSAS, we are not happy to see that these cases are not resolved. We are aware that corporal punishment is still being practised in various schools. This is happening and the department is turning a blind eye.
“So, we are saying to the department, we are also fed up. Learners are being beaten in schools and nothing has been done. There are safety summits, which are held year in and year out to discuss such issues, but nothing has changed,” Mokoena said.
He further said what the department is doing is only ‘pep-talk’ with no implementation. Mokoena added that the documents from previous safety summits are archived and continue to gather dust, while learners continue to be subjected to corporal punishment.
“We want to tell the department that we are fed up and enough is enough. There is another burning issue, which is bullying in schools. We have been calling for the implementation of adopt-a-cop policy when speaking about quality learning and teaching.
“We also urged the department to ensure that there are social workers and psychologists in schools to ensure that learners who have issues such as behavioural challenge, involved in gangsterism and bullying other learners get help,” said Mokoena.
The Guardian 