Ministry Action Urged On Corporal Punishment In Schools
By Brudirect’s Own Azaraimy H Hasib
azairamy@brudirect.com

Bandar Seri Begawan – Complaints on harsh punishments in schools in the country have taken centre stage among parents, teachers and lecturers, professionals and even foreign workers. They are asking the Education Ministry to do something about it.

“How dare they insult my kid in front of me just because he had forgotten to do his homework. It is not their job to punish my children as they desire. Let me punish my children. They should just do their jobs as teachers, not as prison wardens,” said a parent who likes to stay anonymous.

“I paid the school a whopping $15,000 for my children a month, to give them  a good education. But some teachers nowadays are very aggressive. They even asked me to call the police and dared to fight with me if I defended my kid,” the parent said.

Many said a number of teachers still resorted to the outmoded and archaic ways of punishing school children. This led many of the children to perform miserably and develop wayward behaviour for the rest of their school days.

Some parents complain cries are heard as some teachers resort to punching, stripping, pinching and making students stand under the scorching sun. The reasons range from being vocal to failing to do homework.

According to psychologists, the result is dreadful. Some childrens exposed to this punishment will grow up to be shy and introverts, lacking creativity and afraid to voice ideas.

Some may become very uncivil, wild and disrespectful to elders and authorities.

What is more tormenting and upsetting, a lot of parents’ complains came from private schools, which are paid for their supposedly more professional and caring teaching environment.

By hurting the children physically and inflicting upon them, the teachers put the children in a state of fright all the time.

Some said the unfeeling, pitiless and draconian punishments might be because private schools must show better results than public schools, and this leads them to carry on the draconian ways of teaching to get their students to study harder than they could cope up with.

A psychologist urges teachers to be more professional.

Some children grow slower than others, not only physically but mentally as well.  While they would all reach their potentials eventually, they must be allowed to grow naturally and not to be punished for the slightest error, the psychologist said.

Another parent said, “At the age of five, children should not be discouraged from talking and mingling with their classmates.  It is unproductive and only leads to negative consequence to the children”.

However, some teachers felt upset and uneasy on the growing issue of abuse.

They said things like failing to submit homework should be told to the child’s parent, for example through PTA reports, because teachers have no right to punish the children, especially if the punishment gets physical.

They said teachers should treat the students as if they are their own children, at least when they are inside the school compound.

Some parents said they been making complaints to the school’s managements and education ministers but to no avail.

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