Region 4 stakeholders have their say on corporal punishment and automatic promotion
Georgetown, GINA, July 5, 2012 -- Source
Education Minister Priya Manickchand interacting with stakeholders at the national consultation, Diamond Secondary School
As part of a continual process of garnering feedback on programmes and policies implemented by the Administration to move the education system forward, Education Minister Priya Manickchand has been consulting with stakeholders within the system across the country.
A section of gathering, including teachers, Heads of Schools and education officers at a national consultation on corporal punishment in schools and non-repetition and the automatic promotion, Diamond Secondary School
At the Diamond Secondary School, East Bank Demerara on Wednesday, she met with a large gathering of teachers, heads of department, head teachers and regional education officials to garner their inputs on corporal punishment in schools and non-repetition and the automatic promotion policy of the Ministry.
Minister Manickchand told the stakeholders that the national on-going consultation sessions on various policies and programmes that were implemented are to ensure that maximum successes are derived from them.
Consultation, she said is part of Government’s decision making principle, which involves school is one that has been and, continues to be debated across the world.
The time has come, she said, for Guyana to decide whether to stop or to continue corporal punishment in schools.
Minister Manickchand reminded the gatheriong about Guyana’s current position on corporal punishment. She urged teachers and heads of schools to consult with the Ministry’s manual on guidelines for the Maintenance of Order and Discipline, which clearly indicates that corporal punishment must be administered only by the head teacher, deputy head teacher or designated senior teacher and, only for certain offences such as fighting, use of indecent language, and gross insubordination.
The manual also indicates that students are not to be punished in the presence of other learners while males are to be punished on their hands or buttocks and females on their hands. Corporal punishment should only be administered with a cane or strap no longer than 24 inches and must be recorded in the school’s Misdemeanors’ Book.
The session also saw Minister Manickchand seeking the inputs of stakeholders on the Ministry‘s automatic promotion policy which she said has been an issue for many and, as such the Ministry decided to consult with stakeholders.
Following a detailed PowerPoint presentation by Chief Education Officer, Secondary, Melcita Bovell; which outlined the advantages, disadvantages, findings, reports and research on corporal punishment in schools and non-repetition and the automatic promotion policy, stakeholders were provided the opportunity to have their say.
While some were in support of abolishing corporal punishment in school and continuing the automatic promotion policy, some were against it, while some remained neutral.
One teacher from an East Bank Primary School said that while she supports the non-repetition and the automatic promotion policy, the Education Ministry should make it mandatory for schools to carryout remedial classes for those children who are slow learners, while another said that the non-repetition and the automatic promotion policy created the avenue for students to become lazy at completing their school work and assignments.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand and senior education officers interacting with teachers and Head of Schools at the end of the consultation
A teacher from a Secondary School on the East Bank said that it is very difficult dealing with students at that level and, administering punishment for bad behaviour and misconduct is the only way to maintain order and peace in the school.
While other teachers supported the continuation of the current policy outlined by the Ministry’s guidelines for the Maintenance of Order and Discipline, they said that teachers should resort to alternative modes of punishment rather than just sticking to caning.
Another teacher from a popular secondary said that while parents need to come out more and support teachers who are willing go the extra mile, they should also have frequent talks with their children at home as it pertains to their conduct and seriousness of acquiring an education.
Several teachers also used the opportunity to share with their colleagues their methods of teaching and maintaining peace and order in the schoolroom without the use of corporal punishment.
Minister Manickchand at the end of the consultation expressed gratitude to the teachers for their inputs in helping to make the system more effective and promised that all the inputs and feedback from various consultations will be documented and made available at the end of the national discourse so as to guide the next step forward.
During the session matters of other concerns affecting the smooth transition of the education system were promptly responded to and dealt with by the Minister.
Consultations on the abolishment of corporal punishment in the school system, is a fulfillment of a commitment made, during the submission of Guyana’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), to the United Nations Rights Commission on several human rights conventions in 2010.
The exercise will be taken to other parts of the country to garner and seek the contributions of other stakeholders in remote and hinterland communities.