An open Letter to the Minister of Education from Concerned Citizens and Guyanese Educators of the “Old School”
Dear Minister,
We welcome and support the publicly stated position of the new Minister of Education in Jamaica, the Hon. Andrew Holness, that the widespread violence in the society is to be blamed, in part, on the corporal punishment in all its forms as administered to children by teachers and parents under the guise of discipline.
It is refreshing to hear a Minister from our Caribbean region address this issue in a clear, informed and intelligent manner. His counterpart in Guyana (and other territories of the Region) would do well to take heart from his statement and begin to demonstrate leadership in pushing forward policies and legal reforms to correct this backward and medieval practice.
In the case of Guyana, in maintaining corporal punishment, we are in breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of The Child which we as a nation have solemnly ratified. By reneging on the commitment to uphold the principles enshrined in this Universal Convention, Guyana’s integrity and credibility are compromised.
Violence breeds violence. Guyanese have to grow a new culture, one that “does not resort to violence to counteract the recalcitrant child”. Mr. Holness further makes the case as follows: “We have done that for many years, and do you know what that passes to the students? That the only way to resolve a conflict is through violence, and what is being played out in the society is reinforced everyday by how we as a society impart disciplinary instruction to our young people.” The Jamaican Minister of Education has taken this exemplary stand and calls simultaneously for support from his community and youth organisations in particular to work as agents of change in society.
Beating children at home and in school not only teaches the child how to be violent but also to expect violence as normal and acceptable behaviour. If we start normalizing a young child to violence as the legitimate exercise of official authority and power, we give a stamp of approval to violence and establish it as normal and acceptable behaviour in society. Jamaica’s Minister of Education is right when he says that in addition to teaching the child to be violent, corporal punishment also erodes the self-esteem and self-worth of the child and this in turn may result in deviant anti-social behaviour.
We call on Guyana’s legislators led by the Minister of Education and his Cabinet colleagues, on the Leader of the Opposition and parliamentarians on all sides of the House to take a principled and collective stand against violence in our society. Legislate against corporal punishment – on the fast track!
Finding alternatives to violence and developing a Culture of Peace for Development is one of UNESCO’s stated themes for its work in Education in Guyana and within the Region. We endorse this approach and urge UNESCO in Guyana to pro-actively encourage this principle within our Education sector. We have seen vividly how our country’s casual use of violence every day in our society – in the home, at school, at recreation, in some lyrics of the popular music blared out in public places everywhere, and in some media’s sensational images that resonate with violent content – can make us numb. Sad to say, even in some churches the call goes up for violence against children, urging the rod of correction while disregarding the humane non-violent teachings, theologies and practices at the core of all the great religions of the world.
It is an iron fact: the culture of legalized violence against children in schools provides all too fertile ground for other more deadly forms of violence and terror to take root. Moreover, no child can absorb knowledge fully in an atmosphere where s/he feels threatened, especially those children most in need of guidance and encouragement to focus, to build self-esteem and a sense of responsibility.
We ask: what is there to lose? The long years of having corporal punishment on the law books and as education “policy” in schools has hardly served us well as a nation, producing neither a more disciplined nor a less violent society. The evidence is all around. So, why not do things differently? Give peaceful methods – not violence – a chance instead!
The simple, immediate step is to make a provision within the Education Act to conclusively stop corporal punishment and the beating of children in our schools. The time to do so is now. We, the undersigned, stand ready and committed to provide our technical assistance and moral support to such a measure.
Yours faithfully,
Vanda Radzik – Educator, former HM Wauna Nursery School, MoE & UG Lecturer
Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine – Educator, former Lecturer, UG & Principal Critchlow Labour College
Varshnie Singh – Chair, National Commission on the Rights of the Child & Patron of Kids First Foundation
Rev. Dr. Dale Bisnauth – former Minister of Education
Dr. David Dabydeen – Special Guyana Ambassador to UNESCO
Oswald Kendall – former Chief Education Officer (rtd.)
Evelyn Hamilton – Education Planner
Savitri Balbahadur – Field Manager, Guyana Basic Ed Teacher Training Prog & former Head of CPCE
Shirley Ferguson – Child Rights Advocate, Member of National Commission on the Rights of the Child
Steve Surujbally – Advocate for banning Corporal Punishment & Member of Education Task Force
Phillip Allsopp – Civil Engineer
Olga Bone – former District Education Officer, Chief Test Dev. Officer MoE, Asst Registrar, Exams UG
Agnes Jones – Educator, former Head, Nursery Education Division, MoE
Dr. Frank Beckles – Psychiatrist, Caribbean Stress Management Institute
Dr. Janice Jackson – Educational Psychologist
Bonita Harris – Parenting Educator
Danuta Radzik – Child Protection Advocate
Vidyaratha Kissoon – Child Protection Advocate
Chantalle Smith – Child Rights Activist
Cheryl Springer – Editor & Journalist,
Dereck Springer – Director, Lifeline Counselling Services
Omattie Seaforth – Country Director, EveryChild Guyana
Andaiye – Red Thread, former Head Teacher (Ag,), South Georgetown Govt. Secondary
Leila Jagdeo – CEO, Guyana Book Foundation, former Secondary School Teacher
Josephine Whitehead – Director, Help & Shelter Denise Dias – Director, Alicea Foundation,
Dr. Brian O’Toole – Director of School of the Nations & former Lecturer in Education at UG
Sr. Mary Noel Menezes RSM – Historian, UG Lecturer
Fr. Malcolm Rodrigues S.J. – Physicist, former Head of Dept. UG,
Dr. David Singh – Environmentalist, St Stanislaus College Alumni
Dr. Paloma Mohammed – Sociologist & Social Psychologist
Dr. Suraiya Ismail – Director, Social Development Inc.
