The Ministry of Education reiterates that corporal punishment is illegal in the country and even the ministry is not above the law on this issue.
Minister for Education Filipe Bole was replying to questions posed through a writer in one of the daily newspapers open column.
Responding directly to three questions posed by the writer, Mr Bole concluded by adding that his ministry was aware on the nature of students in the country.
“As we concentrate on the minorities that misbehave from time to time, let us not forget that the majority of our students in Fiji behave well and must not feel threatened by the ‘supposed corporal punishment’ that punishes the physical and does not address the emotion and the spiritual,” Mr Bole said.
Allen Lockington posed the question on whether the ministry had introduced other forms of punishment in schools. The ministry replied that while good behavior was emphasized in all schools, there was no need to perpetrate corporal punishment as the way to bring our permanent change in behavior.
The ministry said students behaved well in a safe environment without the fear of being threatened or abused physically. This was in a response to a question whether “kids” were now better in terms of behavior.
“The same question could be asked of parents who are directly responsible for the upbringing of a child. A child’s behavior is also influenced by the environment [community] she/he lives in and it is really unfair to put all the blame on the school and /or Ministry of Education,” Mr Bole said.
The ministry was also quizzed on whether petty thefts continued to exist in schools. The ministry replied that while there were disciplinary processes to deal with thefts in schools, other questions needed to be asked in relation to the issue.
Mr Bole added: “There are strategies used to assist students refrain from petty thefts. Why do students steal? It is because they lack necessities required of them. Schools do work with parents and relevant stakeholders on the issue above. Schools have also put in place the ‘Reward System’ to reinforce good behavior”.
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