Corporal punishment still in practice

Schools run by the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) still subject students to corporal punishment, even though the practice is prohibited according to school policy.

A student of the sixth grade received injuries to his head on Wednesday in the Islamabad Model School for Boys (IMSB) G-11/2 due to corporal punishment and a student in IMCB I-10/2 was also severely beaten by his teacher.

Last week, a student of the ninth grade at IMCB G-7/2 was allegedly sexually assaulted by one of his teachers. According to FDE officials, parents of ninth graders at this schools obtained school leaving certificates for their children after this incident.

Though these three cases were reported to the FDE by parents, sources in the directorate said corporal punishment is more common and does not get reported because students fear they will be punished if they do so.

“We are investigating these three cases which have come to our notice.” said Director School Abdul Waheed.

He said the case of the I-10 school was heard by the Wafaqi Mohtasib and that the parents and teachers may have reached an agreement. He said the FDE will be issuing a notification in the next few days in order to raise awareness about the issue.

FDE Director General Hasnat Qureshi said physical punishment is strictly prohibited in all educational institutions.

The 424 educational institutions in the capital have thousands of students, he said, and that it is therefore wrong to assume that many students are subjected to corporal punishment on the basis of three cases.

He said strict disciplinary action will be taken against any teacher who beats students.

During the recent years, two cases of alleged sexual assault by teachers in IMCB Tarar and IMCB Taralai were also reported and the FDE has since suspended the two teachers after conducting an investigation.

An FDE official said corporal punishment is a violation of children’s rights and that they should instead be given an enabling environment.

“We cannot afford more drop outs and physical punishments are one of the reasons children in rural areas drop out,” he said.

Interactive session at IST

An interactive session was organised by the Institute of Space and Technology in connection with World Space Week, 2017 on Tuesday in which faculty members from 30 educational institutions in the twin cities participated.

According to a press release, the aim of the session was to introduce the concept of ‘Space Ambassadors’ at various educational institutions who were guided about the different events and activities to be held as part of the World Space Week, 2017 in October.

More than 200 activities have been planned for space week including many competitions.

The United Nations General Assembly had in 1999 declared Oct 4 through to Oct 10 World Space Week and every year, the World Space Week Association selects a theme for the week. The theme this year is ‘Exploring New Worlds in Space’ which will inspire debate around where we explore next.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2017