Spare The Rod And Spoil The Child? GES Warns Teachers To Respect Ban On Corporal Punishment

When it comes to whipping the living daylight out of children for wrongdoing, most Ghanaians agree that sparing the rod is indeed spoiling the child. Our society encourages parents, guardians, and teachers to resort to corporal punishment in an attempt to instill discipline in a child. However, the new generation of parents are realizing how barbaric corporal punishment is as and are adopting other effective means of correction.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has also warned that teachers in both private and public schools who inflict corporal punishment on students will be dealt with according to the guidelines of the Service. In a statement signed by the director general of the Ghana Education Service, Jacob A.M Kor, he indicated that it had come to their notice that the ban on corporal punishment is not being enforced n schools.

“We wish to indicate that corporal punishment in our institutions is illegal and would not be tolerated in any form.” “The directive is in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child (CRC) which was corrected in Ghana in 1990 and the Children’s Act of 1998 (Act 560)”

“We strongly advise that teachers, educational workers an staff of public and private institutions would continue to exhibit the best professional conduct throughout the entire process of educational service delivery to pupils and students, without having to resort to the use of corporal punishment”.

According to the GES, it is public knowledge that teachers continue to whip students with canes even though the practice has been banned. There have been instances when administering corporal punishment led to pupils getting deformed, a development the GES is much concerned about.

The Ghana Education Service believes that there are different methods of punishment, like giving pupils assignments to perform while their mates are playing during break time.