Local News
Department of Education lax towards corporal punishment─── 15:04 Thu, 22 Jun 2017
Bloemfontein - The Department of Education has a relaxed attitude towards corporal punishment in schools.
This is according to the South African Human Rights Commission’s Tsoane Khoarai, at the commission’s Child-friendly Space Launch in Bloemfontein today. According to Khoarai, the department is not holding teachers accountable for corporal punishment.
“I think if the department were stern in their treatment of cases of corporal punishment, with immediate suspension of teachers who administer corporal punishment, it would be a deterring factor to teachers. At no point is it right. At the moment there is no reason to administer corporal punishment to a child,” says Khoarai.
“As a society, we still do not treat violations of children’s rights as a serious thing and that’s why matters do not get investigated,” explains Shirley Mlombo, of the SAHRC.
OFM News/Nomaqhawe Mtebele
