Train teachers for 'positive' discipline instead of corporal punishment: Equal Education Law Centre

Teachers, regardless of whether they have used corporal punishment, should receive compulsory and regular in-service training on “positive discipline”.

A senior attorney at the Equal Education Law Centre, Anjuli Maistry, on Friday said discipline training should be compulsory for people studying to become teachers.

The centre expressed concern about the high number of pupils subjected to corporal punishment in schools, which far exceeds previous data on the subject.

The figures were released in a report by Stats SA titled “Children Series Volume I, Children Exposed to Maltreatment 2021”, which shows corporal punishment is still used as a form of discipline in schools despite the ban.

According to the report, in 2019 just more than 1-million of 13-million pupils between the ages of five and 17 reported they had experienced some form of violence at school. 

Maistry said while stronger sanctions can and should be handed down in certain instances, for example in the case of severe assault, it is equally important to ensure teachers receive continuous training on positive methods of discipline.

“Not only will this equip educators with the tools to discipline learners without the need to resort to corporal punishment, but it will also go some way towards ensuring corporal punishment and violence is no longer normalised — especially in a society plagued by gender-based violence and high levels of violence against children.”

The report notes that of those who experienced violence at school, nearly 84% reported corporal punishment by teachers, followed by verbal abuse by teachers (13.7%) and physical violence (10.6%).

According to the report, between 2009 and 2019 the percentage of children who experienced verbal abuse by other pupils increased from 18.1% to 24.1%.

Violent disciplinary methods are used more on girls than boys, the report adds.

Maistry said teachers' use of corporal punishment amounts to grievous bodily harm, adding that those teachers should be removed from the roll of teachers and not be allowed to return to the classroom.

“In other instances, and depending on the nature of the case, it is appropriate to ensure educators receive intensive training on positive forms of discipline as a sanction.”

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