CORPORAL PUNISHMENT WORKS WONDERS - TEACHERS

MBABANE – It is the Ministry of Education versus the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) on the debate about positive discipline and corporal punishment.

The ministry feels positive discipline works, while teachers dearly miss corporal punishment which is being phased out in schools.
Pat Muir, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Training said they have noted that positive discipline removes some of the tension among pupils and allows them to learn in a freer environment.

Muir further said they had also seen a decline in the dropout rate of pupils in early grades compared to before, with the main reason being fear of being punished by the teacher.

Discipline

Positive discipline, according to him, allowed for interaction between teachers and pupils which could encourage communication even on other issues.
However, SNAT Secretary General Zwelithini Mndzebele views this from a different perspective as he argued that even though teachers would embrace positive discipline, they would never forget the good works of corporal punishment.

Punishment

Mndzebele pointed out that it wouldn’t be fair to say corporal punishment was rubbish just because they were progressing from it to a new form of discipline.
He said corporal punishment made their work easier because it would deter pupils from committing offences and would also eliminate repeated talk over the same issue.

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