Ban corporal punishment in schools — MP

Page 17, Nov 16, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Member of Parliament for Akim Abuakwa North, Professor (Emeritus) Samuel Amoako, has advocated the banning of corporal punishment in schools since it inflicts unnecessary pain and cause psychological trauma for students.
He suggested that if and when there was the need for disciplining students, there should be an institutionalised form of punishment to serve as a deterrent to bad behaviour.
The MP said in a statement on the floor of Parliament that although some people invoked some tenets of the Bible to justify corporal punishment, research had shown that corporal punishment was unnecessary, crude, barbaric, and inhumane and did not even serve as a deterrent to bad behaviour.
His statement, which attracted a lot of comments from the floor of the House, was to draw attention to challenges that faced students in schools in the country.
Prof Amoako said there should be alternative but equally effective methods of punishing and correcting children and building in them positive values without inflicting unnecessary pain and suffering that negatively affected their adult personality.
Turning his attention to teachers, the MP urged them to command respect and serve as role models for their students, noting that although many teachers lived exemplary lives, a few rotten ones among them brought the profession into disrepute, ridicule and disgrace.
He explained that sexual promiscuity and defilement by teachers and parents did not serve as good examples for students and for that matter children.
“Teachers who defile children or enter into any form of sexual relationship should be tried and dismissed outright after they have served their sentences,” he said, adding that “They should not be treated with kids’ gloves”.
He also expressed concern about child labour as perpetrated by some teachers and parents and explained that many teacher used children for various errands and household chores to deprive these students of the core responsibility of studying.
Prof Amoako noted that in some rural areas, some teachers asked students to work on their farms during school hours while others sent them on errands to trade for them on the market days.
“There might be some teachers who try to train these students to learn some of the rudiments of household chores. That is not where my worry is. My worry is where the relationship escalates into a master-servant relationship and the students are made to go on errands when their classmates are in class studying,” he explained.
The MP also touched on examination malpractices and called for effective measures to stop the practice to enable students to earn certificates they had really worked for.
Contributing to the statement, the MP for Sekondi, Papa Owusu Ankomah, called for the society to take a strong stand on discipline because it was the fulcrum for the nurture of children into useful adults.
He called on parents to begin disciplining their children from home and not leave that responsibility solely on teachers.
A Deputy Minister for Education and MP for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem, Dr Joseph Annan, gave assurance that the ministry was ready to team up with all stakeholders to find the causes of indiscipline in schools and adopt measures to arrest the trend.