Corporal punishment in schools is common across the country, in both government and private schools
KARACHI: Recently, a schoolteacher in Muzaffarabad was suspended after punishing a student and hitting the person so badly that it caused severe damage to the student’s eye. Upon investigation, it turned out that the teacher was not an appointed employee at the school but a surrogate for another teacher.
Corporal punishment in schools is common across the country, in both government and private schools. Despite the laws against the punishment, not much is done as most of the times the families choose to ignore or not report the act at all. However, corporal punishment negatively affects a child’s confidence, self-esteem and can possibly result in psychological issues in the long run. Often it is due to the negligence on the part of parents too that many openly favour punishing a child by hitting him/her.
Along with the strictest implementation of law against corporal punishment, the teachers must be trained and made aware of effective teaching methodologies, while creating an environment that is conducive to learning without the use of punishment.
Zehra Godil
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2017.
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