Wares Ali Khan :
Dealing with kids in academic arena is undoubtedly a challenging task. Love, affection, care and compassion for teaching as well as taming the kids are considerably significant. Verily all the kids have a definite psyche unlike the adults and they deserve a comfortable and flexible approach to be learned. In particular they conceive lessons curiously, even more enthusiastically. Kids incessantly tend to be sprightly followers while they remain engaged in the learning process. Therefore the job of teaching children is proportionately a task of enormous importance where love and compassion are deliberately imperative to arouse a positive feeling towards learning.
A significant number of children across the country have been experiencing increasing threats to their physical safety and wellbeing while they are pursuing education in some residential academic settings, especially in madrasa. Very often many kids are to take a heavy toll of terrible form of corporal punishment and abuse. The nature and context of enduring physical anguish and penalization by the children irrespective of their age and sex is in increasing trend in some residential madrasas. We have recently witnessed such a grim incident in the country’s Hathazari Upazila where an eight years old madrasa kid was seen dragging by his neck into a room and violently beating with a cane on the ground for a flimsy reason which has made us shocked and too worried.
Regardless of the types of physical punishment it is often exposed to serious psychological harms which surely last longer. Such socially outlawed and morally condemned maltreatment and torture against kids now and again reaps negative consequences on the children, communities and nation too. Once in a while it provokes to death and severe injuries to the victims. Frequent exposures to violence, physical as well as humiliating punishment at an early age can hinder brain and nervous system development of children. By contrast victims might feel self-blaming, possess intense forms of anger towards the abusers for long which also can induce the fear of getting intimate with the other trustworthy folks.
An integral effort is entirely needed to form awareness among community people- in all spheres of life- from family to educational institutions regarding all forms of somatic punishment to the kids. Emphasis should be given on kid’s friendly learning values and positive pedagogical methods. Educators serving in educational institutions, especially in a resident madrasa should have a keen look upon their children’s mental age and the process of their mental growth. They have to inevitably be amicable, tolerant and affectionate teachers at the time they approach for teaching. This is to be believed that fear, anger and violence never can teach the kids anything more.
We must work for making physical punishment and abuse against children in all the learning-domains socially unwished, morally unfair, and institutionally banned. In this aspect necessary capacity among teachers, staffers, and service providers has to be attained to facilitate non-violent interactions with children in resident academy.
A holistic counselling orientation on the ground of massive sensitization should be executed in existent residential madrasa. All incidents of maltreatment, corporal punishment, and abuse have to be surveilled by an appointed concerned body. Respective authority should be cooperative enough in monitoring teachers’ institutional behaviors. A mandatory provision should stringently be incorporated by the governing body (if exists) of the concerned residential madrasa to practice zero tolerance policy in case of corporal approach to the kids. A monthly coordinating meeting in order to get an update of the past month’s progress is a must. Eventually teachers should be rewarded with positive feedback for theirearnest efforts tokid’s friendly education impartation.
It is to note that a 2011 circular by the Ministry of Education banned corporal punishment in all the educational settings, and the drafted Education Act which is now in its concluding phase, also seeks to impose a ban on corporal punishment and mental torture inflicted by teachers. Therefore an action plan is needed for creating a grand awareness amidst the teachers of the resident madrasa so as they follow the ministry’s instructions on corporal punishment. In case of infringement of the directive, irremissible procedure might be taken against the accused teaching staff.
It is a matter of sorrow but true that the laws for protecting children are not yet fully implemented or standardized in the country. Therefore, we have to untie this Gordian knot like corporal punishment against the kids in a combined and integrated modality. To ensure smooth growth and required education for the children in a serene and secured atmosphere is always a prime concern.
(Mr. Khan is an educationist).
