| Government has begun consultations to gather input into the possibilities of abolishing corporal punishment in the school system.Over the weekend, on national televisions, Education Minister Priya Manickchand held a panel discussion which included the likes of Dominic Gaskin,Wholesale China Jerseys, Executive Member of the Alliance for Change (AFC); Karen De Souza, Head of Red Thread and Jennifer Cumberbatch,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, Headteacher of Winfer Gardens Secondary.According to the Education Minister,jerseys nfl wholesale, while several countries have abolished corporal punishment in the school system, others including the United States are still at ‘loggerheads’, as to whether this should be eliminated or retained.“Canada as recently as 2004, after a case went to the Supreme Court, banned it across the country and the US decided that it was not a breach of the Constitution,” she is quoted as saying in a government statement.While Poland has been the first country to have abolished corporal punishment at school, Guyana is yet to take a stance on the issue, hence the need for countrywide consultations.Thus far, all parties have agreed that no child below Grade Two, should be beaten in schools and this has since been a clause in the Bill, which is yet to be taken to Parliament to be made into Law.“We are at a place where, because of consultations, we have come to a conclusion that our children younger than Grade Two should not be beaten in school and we have also laid down rules about how this is to happen,” Minister Manickchand said.Dominic Gaskin, while making a clear point that it should not be abolished, however, stated that corporal punishment should be regulated, whereby, if the need so arises that children should be scolded in schools,NBA Store, it must be carefully done and monitored by the relevant authorities.“I know there are a lot of people who are against it and I respect that view. Corporal punishment is a system; I think there is a place for it. However, abusive behaviour against students, I am totally against it,” he said.Jennifer Cumberbatch, however, had different views and supported and maintained that corporal punishment should be retained in the school system, noting that children are becoming more insolent to teachers.“I have no problem if someone were to give a child two lashes, that is not abuse…I am in agreement with those persons who feel that there should be no corporal punishment, if it is abusive,NFL Jerseys From China, but we have to do something to stem that tide, because our children will become like those first world countries where children talk to their teachers anyhow,” she opined.She added that corporal punishment at most schools is the last resort, as there is currently a manual which governs how teachers are to maintain order and discipline in schools.Ms. De Souza in her input to the discussion,Alex Delvecchio Red Wings Jersey, stated that while the issue can be challenging, especially for teachers, corporal punishment should not be allowed, as it defeats teachers’ professional standards and ethics.Meanwhile, the issue of corporal punishment being a defeat to teachers’ professionalism was defended by Cumberbatch, as she stated that teachers are concerned about children and as such, would not scold a child to an extent of being physically abusive.In addition, she stressed that it is challenging for a teacher to function in a classroom where children are ill-mannered and disorderly.Consultations on the abolition of corporal punishment in the school system, is a fulfillment of a commitment made during the submission of Guyana’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to the United Nations Rights Commission on several human rights conventions in 2010.The consultations will be organised by Minister Manickchand and will take place in the broader context of consultations, which will continue on the draft Education Bill of 2012. |
