Karachi

The data collected by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC) indicates that 35,000 students left high school in Pakistan in 2009 because of the fear of corporal punishment.

However, Sadia Baloch, who heads the child rights desk at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, believes that the figures must be higher. “These are only the reported cases, and cases here are barely reported.”

Though a mechanism for reporting cases of violence against children exists, there are serious loopholes. For instance, a case can only be reported at the Federal Ombudsman’s office by either filling an online form, or obtaining the form in person from the office.

“The Ombudsman’s office exists in provincial capitals. The Karachi office entertains complaints from all over Sindh,” Baloch says.

Access to the forms is therefore an issue. “People in villages do not have Internet connections. It is impractical for them to travel all the way to the provincial capital and register a complaint.” The forms, she maintains, should be available at all police stations.

Confusion in the definition

The law does not define the term corporal punishment. The general impression of corporal punishment is physical beating but activists and educationists have their own definitions.

Baloch maintains it constitutes any punishment given by an institution, “in this case a school”.

Cassandra Fernandes, a researcher at the Institute of Educational Development-Aga Khan University (IED-AKU), calls it “anything that incorporates fear in children; name-calling, pinching, staring”.

The Pakistan Penal Code in Article 89 states, “Nothing which is done in good faith for the benefit of a person under twelve years of age”, by “consent, either expressed or implied, of the guardian or other person having lawful charge of that person, is an offence”, provided it does not cause death or voluntary hurt.

Furthermore, the act of “voluntary hurt” is only committed if six conditions are met. Article 337a of the Pakistan Penal Code discusses them as injury caused “without exposing the bone of victim, exposing the bone without causing fracture, fracturing the bone without dislocating it, fracturing the bone and dislocating it, fracturing the skull so that the bone touches the brain membrane and fracture of the skull so that the wound ruptures the brain membrane”.

“Basically one cannot register an FIR, unless blood oozes out or a bone is fractured. A bruise for example, will be registered in a ‘roznamcha’ or daily diary, meaning it is not a cognisable offence,” Baloch explains.

Why do parents/teachers beat up children?

A research conducted by IED-AKU during a survey of 20 public and private schools in Karachi and Larkana reveals that parents and teachers beat up children because this is the only way of disciplining they know of. Some argue that it is permissible in Islam.

The study, titled “Creating Child-Friendly Classrooms; Positive Disciplining Strategies”, also finds that the most common forms of corporal punishment are; making students sit or stand in an uncomfortable position like making them a ‘Murgha’, boxing the ears, taking off shirts (for boys) and either caning their backs or making them lie down while the teacher kicks them.

The reason cited was the need for maintaining the classroom power structure in schools. “In our classrooms the teacher is all-powerful,” says Cassandra Fernandes, one of the researchers who conducted the study.

Alternatives to corporal punishment

“The key to avoid misbehaviour by children is to make classrooms child-friendly. Class time must be utilised constructively. Children must not get idle time, for this is when they make mischief,” says Fernandes.

Following the study, a tool-kit was prepared to provide teachers with alternatives. This includes comprehensive tips for child-friendly classrooms. Some of the suggestions include setting up a complaint box for children.

It even includes the map of a child-friendly classroom, which comprises a class library with reading and math activity areas, apart from desks and chairs.

In a letter to Barack Obama, Alice Miller, author of Banished Knowledge, a book on the psychological implications of corporal punishment on children, wrote, “Spanking creates fear. In a state of fear children’s attention is totally absorbed by the strategy of surviving. As they (children) learn from imitation they learn from us violence and hypocrisy. They will obey at first but in the long run they may choose to lie to avoid the next punishment.”

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-118140-Classrooms-need-to-be-child-friendly

Karachi

A signboard outside a school located in a slum area of the metropolis reads, “Integrated Education Learning Programme (IELP) – all expenses will be borne by the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF)”. Inside, students sit engrossed in their battered books. Until a year back, these 5- to 12-year-olds were carpet weavers. With time, they learnt to bathe, comb and love books. But the effort is about to be wasted.

More than 1,300 schools being run by the SEF, providing education to 150,000 students in Sindh and employing 3,500 teachers, is at risk of closure as the provincial education department is delaying the promised funds it assured to these schools under the IELP project.

The project began in 2009 with the help of foreign donors, giving 16-month contracts to private parties interested in opening and managing schools in slum areas — at a profit. The private entrepreneurs were ensured that all financial expenses would be borne by the SEF.

However, in the beginning of the current month, all entrepreneurs received an invitation to a closing ceremony for the programme with a notification that subsidies till September would be paid and the project officially ended.

The ceremony will take place at the Marriot Hotel on June 28. No funds were allocated to the project in the provincial budget for the year 2012-13.

What the entrepreneurs fear

“We have taken the school buildings on a lease of at least five to ten years from the owners; and also spent money on blackboards and benches. Rooms with the right length and breadth were constructed as per the requirement of the SEF, washrooms were built and clean water was made available. What will happen to all that effort?” said one concerned entrepreneur.

For another, the worst setback was the education awareness programme she had conducted in her community. “I went to each house, sat with families, motivated them to register for the schools because they were free of charge. Now when they finally realise the importance of education, I might have to close it down. They will think that I was a liar and a cheat,” she feared.

Another entrepreneur recalled that when these children first started attending the school, the classroom stunk with the stench they carried with them. “They were beggars and cleaning up did not suit their profession as no one pays a clean-looking child. They did not even have the sense to wear clothes of their own size. Clothes for them were just a mean to cover their bodies. I taught them personal hygiene and how to dress up.”

Although most appreciate the SEF as a transparent organisation where corruption is absent, they believe that “the few good programmes running by the government in the country should not come to a halt”.

The entrepreneurs feel that they will be left with only two options; either shut down the existing schools or charge fees. Both will have the same results – discord with communities, adverse impact on the lives of thousands of students and embarrassment for the several entrepreneurs who promised the communities free education for an unlimited period of time.

What the SEF says

Aziz Kabani, SEF programme director, denied that that IELP was on the verge of closure. “We have been assured by the education secretary that the schools will not be closed.”

The project will end on June 30. “An evaluation report will then be sent to the education department in July. PC-I will be granted to the project and funds released.”

Kabani also said 60 percent of the schools were in areas, where no other education facility was available.

 http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-117108-Future-of-150000-students-hangs-in-the-balance