Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) has urged Teachers to be professional and refrain from corporal punishment when disciplining learners.
ZANEC President George Hamusunga indicated that teachers should refrain from corporal to avoid unnecessary problems, adding that corporal punishment has been banned by the government.
This came to light following the Teacher of Kasenengwa District of Eastern Province who has been arrested by police for allegedly assaulting a grade two pupil who sustained a fractured leg for failure to write school work after losing a pencil.
Mr Hamusunga advised that the teachers to be professional and use other alternative punishments that do not violate the children’s code act and ensure safety of the pupils under their care.
‘’As ZANEC we are very disappointed to hear that the teacher in Kasenegwa beat up a pupil so badly, this is unacceptable, our position together with the teachers trade union is that we do not condone corporal punishment on the learners and corporal punishment has been banned by the government,” he said
“Therefore, we are asking for very strong child protection policies that should govern our schools so that our child can be safe,” he noted.
Mr Hamusunga however, expressed happiness to hear that the teacher was arrested as it will send a message to the other teachers that have been involved in beating children.
He noted with concern that teachers are entrusted with pupils when they are at school thus they must ensure that the learners are safe.
Mr Hamusunga stated that corporal punishment has been banned by the government and the coalition does not condone corporal in schools.
This country produced the best crop of intellectuals when corporal punishment was the norm in schools. Fast forward to present times and we have a generation who can barely read or count. I would support bringing corporal punishment back.
Beating a child to force learning is primitive and here in Zambia, a crime. Just read the article and it shows that the teachers are illiterate and so are their heads. How can you teach what you don’t know? Look at those faces hoping to learn and no one to deliver; that is the sad story of education in many countries. The teachers can’t teach.
You are correct infact Ive been advocating for teachers to be given the same end year exams the children get, have even approached the ministry but requests falls on deaf ears ….
In SA where they took a very small cross section the failure rate was alarming..
In America where the teachers have no control, the students insult and assault their teachers all of the time. If you think that there is something wrong about the person your education produced, then oppose corporal punishment, otherwise it is “spare the rod and spoil the child”