CORPORAL punishment in educational institutions – mainly in school and madrassa – is outlawed by a directive of High Court Division defining the act as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a clear violation of a child’s fundamental right to life, liberty and freedom. The abomination of madness, cruelty and evil of corporal punishment is still persisting in schools in the country though the Education Ministry on August 9, 2010 issued a circular slapping ban on indulging in physical punishment to the students. A report in a vernacular daily on Sunday said a Class V female student, Bristi Das, succumbed to her injuries of beating, slapping, and punching by her mathmetics teacher Babla Datta in Boalkhali of Chittagong. The 12-year old girl died on Friday as the teacher punished her for committing mistake in calculating math on July 19, explicitly an abominable cruelty.
Researchers found link of corporal punishment to cancer and a multitude of health maladies, massive school drop-outs, mood and anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug abuse, cardio-vascular disease, arthritis, obesity, wife-beatings, muggings and other social misbehavior. Though Physiologists warn that the hidden dangers of inflicting corporal punishment on children lurks menacingly in the shadows for decades giving no warning when they will strike, but some people in their state of ignorance, arrogance – or both – still refer to it as discipline and condone it.
Relevant international and national laws provide safeguard for children against inhuman and corporal punishments. The Universal Declaration of Human Right in Article 5, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in Article 7 and United Nations Convention against Torture urge that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Bangladesh as a state party of UN Convention on Children’s Rights obliges to protect children from being subjected to be tortured, punishment and any cruel or inhuman or humiliating behavior and physical violence as children are human beings with the right to dignity and physical integrity. The Ministry circular asked the District Education Officers and Upazila Secondary Education Officers to take action under the existing law along with departmental action against such misconduct. It is the duty of teachers to help develop physical and mental growth of the students and groom them up as worthy citizens, however, the heinous punishment hampers the progress of students.
We urge the government to take immediate step in the particular case of Bristi Das and formulate law prohibiting corporal punishment in school, madrassa, and also in home, that will protect the rights of kids and uphold their dignity as well as the country in future. To wipe out the malpractice in school and madrassa, the Education Ministry ought to supervise educational institutions and to take immediate disciplinary action against the cruel teachers; a new method of training of teachers should be introduced highlighting its menace. The seeds sown today bear the fruits of tomorrow and if the children of today are to be the upright law-abiding citizens we hope for tomorrow, we ought to respect them more and remove the weeds from the education system that choke their development.
