Johannesburg– Corporal punishment is still common in South African schools even though itwas banned more than a decade ago.
Recentresearch showed that up to 70% of primary school and 50% of high school pupils werestill subjected to corporal punishment.
Gerhard Olivier, vice-principal of the Eendracht Primary School in Pretoria,was recently awarded his Master's degree at the University of Pretoria. He didresearch on teachers' perceptions of corporal punishment and the reasons whythey still administered it even though it is against the law.
Sixteachers who administered corporal punishment at three Pretoria schools withdifferent cultural backgrounds were involved in the study.
The study showed that teachers were well-informed about the consequences shouldthey administer corporal punishment. They felt, however, it was acceptable ifdone reasonably.
They were frustrated and believed corporal punishment was an effective way ofmaintaining discipline in over-crowded classrooms. Many still viewed it as aneffective "classroom aid".
Theresearch showed some of the teachers didn't think other methods of disciplinewere as successful as corporal punishment. Some of them had tried other methodsbut had limited success with them.
Teachers also believed the department's poor support on how alternatives forcorporal punishment should be applied, contributed to the ineffectiveness ofthese methods.
They claimed the abolishment of corporal punishment was forced on them tooquickly while they were not trained in other methods. The teachers said theywere not consulted when corporal punishment was scrapped in schools.
The teachers said they had over the past decades done many workshops, seminarsand training sessions but seldom received information on different methods ofdisciplining children.
The main reasons why teachers still administered corporal punishment, appearedto be difficult to control, over-crowded class rooms. Language problems werealso cited as reasons.
Apart from these, poor morale under teachers, limited work satisfaction andhigh stress levels made efficient teaching and learning impossible.
Teacherswere convinced that corporal punishment educated children, improved the qualityof teaching and academic achievement.
The study found that although corporal punishment damaged the rights of pupils,the practice continued because many teachers saw it as the only way to maintaindiscipline.
Olivier in his research pointed to another South African study done between2003 and 2006 under pupils of 16 and older in which was found 51% had receivedcorporal punishment from a teacher or principal.
Olivier said he regularly encountered the view that corporal punishment shouldbe brought back. He believed teachers should accept that it would never againbe legalised.
His recommendation was that smaller classrooms and acceptable alternatives forcorporal punishment that were realistic to teachers' working conditions werelooked at.
