WHILE it is the view of some teachers from Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice) that corporal punishment should remain in schools to maintain discipline, others are concerned that this could result in children becoming abusers and so alternatives should be considered. A team of Education Ministry officials, headed by Principal Education Officer, Marcel Hutson and Deputy Chief Education Officer, Donna Chapman, yesterday took the national consultation on grade retention, repetition, automatic promotion and corporal punishment to Region Five.
These consultations are being held countrywide as a national assessment which will allow the ministry to hear the views of the parents and teachers on these issues.
Chapman, in her address to the meeting at the Bushlot Secondary school, on the topic of corporal punishment, said that this kind of discipline does not involve the shedding of blood.
Chapman told the meeting that the alternatives to corporal punishment are many and these should be explored.
Mr. Hudson, in his address, spoke about grade retention, repetition, and automatic promotion.
According to him, after extensive research, the ministry decided that automatic promotion is a better strategy than repetition, since it has proven to be one of the main reasons for the social academic downfall.
He said while this has been decided, there are rules and regulations that come with automatic promotion.
He emphasized that research shows that the application of grade repetition brings an extra cost with it, and it leads to a breakdown in academic life of a person.
He said this has been one of the causes for the high school dropout rate and this was one of the major concerns when the matter was being addressed.
Meanwhile, as teachers and some members of parent teachers associations stood to make their point, their views varied.
Most of the teachers and parents who shared their views felt that the practice of corporal punishment should not be abolished, while others felt that the whipping of children is not necessary in schools.
Many felt that the current system should remain, with a child to be punished must be taken to the head teacher who will flog him or her, or instruct a senior teacher to do so, and the flogging must be documented.
One teacher said children live what they learn and added that violence can hinder a child’s learning capacity.
Another teacher felt that if corporal punishment is abolished in schools, steps should be taken to deal with children who might need extra attention.
She suggested bringing in a counsellor to each school to assist in this regard.
On the topic of automatic promotion, teachers and parents felt that grade repetition should remain in schools.
They agreed that a child, before being promoted, must achieve a higher level by working harder.
Automatic promotion, they believe, would mean that the child will be unable to cope in the new grade since he was unsuccessful in the previous grade.
The national consultation on grade retention, repetition, automatic promotion and corporal punishment continues to be conducted countrywide.
At the end of the consultations, a report will be submitted to the minister, and the way forward will be based on the outcomes and expressions at the consultations.