Corpun file 26762 at www.corpun.com
NewsDay, Harare, 6 December 2018
Ministry raps Masvingo school for caning pupils
By Phyllis Mbanje
THE Primary and Secondary Education ministry has rapped the privately-run Riverton Academy in Masvingo for alleged abuse of 79 pupils who were caned in the dead of the night after some misdemeanour.
The caning of pupils is not an acceptable form of discipline.
Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Tumisang Thabela said investigations relating to the matter revealed that about 79 students at the institution were caned on November 12.
The headmaster Herbert Mushandu indicated that the boys were caned between 10pm and 11pm after a misdemeanour.
"The ministry expects schools to establish a conducive teaching and learning environment that encourages learners to perform to their maximum potential," she said.
Thabela also said the ministry will be engaging various stakeholders, including the pupils themselves, to come up with positive forms of discipline in line with the Constitution.
"The head of the school and administration staff are expected to act in loco parentis [in the place of a parent] all the time and to institute any corrective measures where there are cases of indiscipline in a professional and acceptable manner", she said.
Thabela, however, urged pupils to conduct themselves well at all times.
Meanwhile, the secretary said that appropriate action will be taken against any offending parties in the alleged abuse of pupils.
Corpun file 26742 at www.corpun.com
The Sunday Mail, Harare, 23 December 2018
Govt to introduce free education
By Sharon Munjenjema and Lincoln Towindo
(extracts)
Government schools will next year begin offering free basic education, while corporal punishment will be abolished in terms of a new law that is set to be introduced.
Authorities will amend the Education Act when Parliament resumes sitting early next year to align the law with Section 27 of the Constitution.
According to Section 27, "The State must take all practical measures to promote: (a) Free compulsory basic education for children; and (b) higher and tertiary education."
Cabinet approved the Education Amendment Bill last week, which, among other things, promotes equitable development of schools across all regions, the learning of local languages and guarantees the rights of people with disabilities.
[...]
In a separate interview, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Professor Paul Mavima said: "The law basically enjoins the State to progressively fund the learning of every child.
"Tuition fees will be progressively done away with, while the issue of levies will be dealt with later on."
He added that the proposed law would also require school authorities to use alternative means of disciplining pupils.
"The law will basically outlaw corporal punishment as way of disciplining a child," said Minister Mavima.
"We have to come up with alternative ways of disciplining and do away with caning."
[...]
Corpun file 26743 at www.corpun.com
New Zimbabwe, 25 December 2018
Govt, teachers differ on corporal punishment
By Staff Reporter
(extracts)
A PROMINENT teachers group and government have taken different stances over the retention of corporal punishment in schools with the former saying it was a good method to instil discipline among students.
In a list of demands presented to President Emmerson Mnangagwa during a state house meeting on Friday, the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) warned of deteriorating levels of discipline among adolescent scholars if there were no alternatives to the scrapping of corporal punishment.
"Some statements by government officials in relation to indiscipline by learners in schools are having the effect of abetting that scourge," PTUZ said.
"We do not advocate for corporal punishment, but if we are not careful, we will soon face the problem of South Africa.
"Cases that come to mind are the case in which in Zaka district, a teacher was attacked by a learner at Mutonhori High School. The same happened in Lupane district and Ihlathi secondary school in Bulawayo."
After the meeting, President Mnangagwa said he was not ready with a response to the teachers' demands but was going to go through their presentation and come up with a much detailed response.
However, as if to pre-empt its response on the corporal punishment part, government has said that it was considering completely doing away with the disciplinary method beginning next year.
Both Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and Paul Mavima, Higher and Tertiary Education Minister, have said that the government would next year amend the Education Act which will also have provisions to outlaw corporal punishment.
[...]
Corporal punishment has divided Zimbabweans with parents who were caned during their school days saying it should remain while some say it was outdated and was tantamount to child abuse.
© New Zimbabwe Media Ltd.
