Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Chairman of the Katsina State Universal Basic Education Board, Mr. Lawal Buhari Daura, has warned that henceforth any teachers found giving a student or pupil corporal punishment would be sanction by the state government.
Daura explained that corporal punishment has contributed negatively to the educational pursue of children, especially adolescent girls, therefore, should be averted in order to tackle the prevailing cases of out-of-school children.
He spoke yesterday at a two-day stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting on ending corporal punishment in schools, urged teachers, headmasters and principals of schools in the state to desist from the act or face the wrath of the law.
The stakeholders meeting was organised by the State Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in order to tackle cases of corporal punishment in schools in the state.
He explained that there are instances where corporal punishment meted out to students or pupils have resulted to school dropout of the child or student involved.
Daura said: “I want to seize this opportunity to remind our principals, head teachers and teachers that henceforth any teacher found giving corporal punishment in our schools will be deal with accordingly.
“No teacher, principal or headmaster should give corporal punishment. We are not saying you should not punish the students; there are different types of punishments but corporal punishment is no longer allowed in our schools.”
He appreciated what he described as the unrelenting effort of development partners, especially UNICEF, for complimenting the effort of the state government towards the development of the education sector.
In her welcome address, the UNICEF focal person at the state Ministry of Education, Binta Abdulmumini, advocated for urgent need to stem corporal punishment in schools across the state for effective and efficient learning to thrive.
According to her, “there had been occasions whereby corporal punishment given by a teacher to a child either in form of flogging or bullying had eventually led to the death of the child.
“So, there is need to urgently address the issue, with a view to putting an end to all forms of corporal punishment in the society, particularly in our schools and homes.”
In his goodwill message, the state chairman of All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) Mr. Garba Shehu, lamented that corporal punishment has forced a lots of students out of school and urged his colleagues to checkmate the indices in their schools.
