Abubakar Dan Tsuntsu
Stakeholders in education in Katsina State have resolved to punish teachers and students found guilty of applying corporal punishment on students of primary and secondary schools.
The Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, PRS of the State Ministry of Education, Usamatu Muhammad Gona stated this while signing the resolution at a two-day stakeholders sensitisation meeting on ending corporal punishment organised by UNICEF, in collaboration with the State Ministry of Education, on Friday in Katsina.
Mr Gona listed stakeholders that signed the resolution which include School Based Management Committees, SBMC, Education Secretary’s Forum, Parent Teacher’s Association, PTA, Judiciary council, traditional and religious leaders, among others.
The director said that they are incorporating discipline to erring students as opposed to corporal punishment because of its negative impact on their educational pursuit and wellbeing.
Speaking at the event, the UNICEF Education Specialist, Abuja Office Nigeria, Mrs. Azuka Menkiti pointed out that a research by the agency has discovered that more than 85% of students have experienced one form of violence or the other and corporal punishment ranked the highest.
According to her, corporal punishment inhibit the students’ enrollment in schools who feel the fear of being beaten or flogged, and it decreases their performances.
She further explained that UNICEF will also advocate for the enactment of law to give the advocacy a legal backing.
In her remark, the High Court Judge in Katsina, Hajiya Safiya Badamasi Umar, SAN, who also represented the state commissioner of education spoke on the federal and state laws that protect the rights of children against any form of violence.
Over the years, corporal punishment has been in practice in Nigerian schools, which experts say has contributed to massive drop out of students from schools, mental and physical ill-health, and increased violence and illiteracy in the society.
