Eradicate scourge of beatings

AREPORT on the use of corporal punishment in schools — violent penalties have been banned by law since 1996 — suggests that another lofty promise to our children is not being honoured. In this case, pupils and parents are not being protected from abusive teachers and the schools and unions that too often cover up for them.

The report, by the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Child Law, quotes two surveys that found that canings and beatings were still experienced by many pupils. But it would be a mistake to assume that all efforts to enforce the prohibition have been in vain. And the relationship between teachers opting for physical violence and the socioeconomic background cannot be ignored.

In Gauteng, for example, the government’s General Household Survey found that the percentage of pupils experiencing corporal punishment fell from 11.7% in 2009 to 4.6% in 2012. But in provinces where school and education standards are scandalously low, beatings appear rampant and, if anything, on the increase. For example, in the Eastern Cape, the figure rose from 25.2% in 2009 to 30.3% in 2012.

Typically, it is the poorest and those most in need of the protection offered by our constitution who benefit the least. As disturbing as these figures are, the lack of action against teachers who wield not the cane, but the hose pipe, the belt or the fist is even more worrying. In 2011-12 in the Eastern Cape, 640 000 pupils reported being physically punished, but there were only 11 complaints against teachers.

And the dice are loaded against pupils and parents. At disciplinary hearings, “a trade union representative always assists educators while the learner has no representation”, the report says. The Constitutional Court has ruled that caning has no place in our schools. Our children deserve a more energetic approach to banish it forever.