Bodies debate over corporal punishment
Unruly pupils big worry for schools
The family of 19-year-old Kulani Mathebula, a Mondeor high school pupil who was stabbed to death last month, believes that if there was corporal punishment he would still be alive.
This is after the deputy minister of police Bongani Mkongi called for corporal punishment to be reviewed during a Gauteng school safety summit that was held at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg in Ekurhuleni yesterday. The summit was held under the theme “Safer schools to support learning and teaching”.
Mathebula was stabbed to death while walking to school. Two pupils from a nearby school have been arrested for his murder. Mathebula’s uncle Themba Chauke yesterday said pupils had become unruly and were not scared of anyone because they “have so many rights”. “The pain still cuts too deep for me and the family. If there was corporal punishment we would not have boys walking around carrying knives and my nephew would still be alive,” Chauke said.
The summit follows recent incidents of gangsterism, bullying and break-ins at schools as well as violence against pupils and educators within school premises. Mkongi asked if there were alternative ways of disciplining pupils at schools.
“We fought against corporal punishment during our days as members of Cosas, but the question is still burning as to whether the banning of corporal punishment is helping in our schools where students [pupils] do no listen, they drink in schools, use drugs, carry dangerous weapons and stab their teachers,” Mkongi said. He said pupils who stab other pupils or teachers should be jailed despite their age. However, SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) provincial secretary Tseliso Ledimo said corporal punishment was not the answer. “We do not support the return of corporal punishment as the decision was informed by scientific analysis of the negative effects, both psychological and emotional, that it had on kids. Many pupils ran away from school, so we need to rather find the root cause of this behaviour,” Ledimo said. Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said corporal punishment had the risk of stirring up more violence. “We have to come up with alternative punishment for pupils. We can’t have teachers and pupils fighting, and we can’t encourage violence on the school premises,” he said. The event was attended by 3,000 stakeholders including the Gauteng premier David Makhura, the MECs for community safety and education, deputy minister of basic education, school governing bodies, organised labour, representative councils of learners and student movements.
Corporal punishment has the risk of stirring up more violence. Panyaza Lesufi GAUTENG EDUCATION MEC