adminTatenda Makombe
SCHOOLS opened on Tuesday this week and city commuter omnibuses ferrying droves of pupils to schools in and around Mutare are once again a common sight. Inside the commuter omnibuses the usual noisy, party atmosphere is the order of the day and the elderly passengers as usual wonder how these pupils are being controlled at their respective schools.
Recently one student at a local school was telling me about how a student who was being reprimanded turned violent against his teacher which resulted in a physical showdown. Pupils who speak back to their teachers or question a teacher’s instructions are now common in modern day schools.
The question many may ask is what has become of discipline levels in schools? This phenomenon is not only peculiar to Zimbabwe but it is a trend that is now prevalent in many parts of the world.
In South Africa reported cases of teachers bashed by their own pupils are now high.
One leading academic said the challenge that today’s teachers face is of the abolition of corporal punishment, which has created a near “banana republic” scenario in schools.
A situation that is regrettable as some pupils have taken advantage of this to indulge in all manner of misdemeanours.
Interviews with several teachers revealed that it is now very difficult to rein discipline in schools without the use of a rod.
One teacher went as far as citing the Bible in Proverbs, “Spare the rod and spoil the child”.
It should be realised that the school is a manufacturing plant of future citizens.
Disciplined students will result in disciplined citizens of tomorrow.
The rationale behind the removal of corporal punishment in schools was to protect pupils’ human rights. In light of this the Education Act is adamant that pupils should not be corporally punished except on very special circumstances, which have to be kept record of.
This move was reached at against a backdrop of excessive whipping of pupils by their teachers.
Some of the pupils who were victims of excessive beatings suffered life-long injuries, so in trying to get rid of a problem, abolishment of corporal punishment was adopted, which however, ironically is creating another contentious problem.
Another educationist who requested anonymity also argued that the withdrawal of corporal punishment shifted the “symbol of authority” from teachers to the school head who solely has the power to expel students from the school.
“School heads are the remaining focal point of discipline in most schools. When pupils are threatened to go to the school head they co-operate and shows remorse. However, when the ordinary teacher wants to enforce discipline some pupils may even threaten to retaliate or are not even troubled,” said the educationist.
Disciplining students is a necessary step of discouraging bad vices.
Productive manuals which took over corporal punishment appear not to be enough deterrent.
A casual survey in local schools revealed that schools that have very disciplined students are those where corporal punishment is still being administered, at least covertly.
It must be admitted that a very large number of present-day adults that learned during the corporal punishment era later grew to see the greater good of it, as it nurtured them in the right direction.
So, in essence let the Education Act be revisited with regards to corporal punishment from a cultural perspective and how modern schools are failing to effectively discipline students without the use of a rod.
Sternness and the use of the rod in the African culture has always been an effective way to instil discipline in children, so why abolish it in our schools?
Online Reporter