The Guyana Human Rights Association has said that the Parliamentary consultation on corporal punishment should be an opportunity to educate Guyanese society on the legal, including human rights, obligations of the Government to bring an end to corporal punishment.
GHRA in its submission to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee addressing the issue of corporal punishment stated that it is not a matter of opinion. Whether 1% or 100% of Guyanese believe corporal punishment should remain does not detract from the legal responsibilities of the government to remove it.
The GHRA said that the society needs positive leadership from the government on the issue of corporal punishment. According to the GHRA, “What the society does not need is yet another demonstration of government weakness when confronted with how indifferent certain factions of the society are to the consequences of violence against children.
Unfocused consultation will predictably fuel discord and divisiveness, leading once again to the conclusion that the status quo had better remain.”
The GHRA said that government cannot in good faith launch a consultation around human rights issues without presenting the wealth of evidence which has strengthened a growing international consensus against corporal punishment.
On the issue of the retention of corporal punishment as a form of discipline in schools, the GHRA said this is indefensible and must be seen for what it is – violence against children. It survived only because in Guyana, the concept of a child as a human person in his/her own right, is outweighed by authoritarian notions of children as property of adults and their character must be shaped by fear and pain.
Corporal punishment is illegal since it violates of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) which is part of Guyanese law, it was noted.
In its submission to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee, the GHRA restated their recommendations outlining a process for the abolition of corporal punishment, ‘Moving forward humanely: proposals for the abolition of corporal punishment in the Guyana education system’, which had been submitted to all members of Parliament in December 2006.
These eight recommendations are that the government must clearly locate its decision that corporal punishment will be taken off the statute books in constitutional and human rights obligations; the government must make it clear that it considers the complete abolition of corporal punishment from private and public life to be the desirable goal; parents and guardians must be made aware that their right to discipline children is not absolute and must conform to the laws and guidelines which apply in the public sector and that breaches may lead to prosecution; the list of “suggested alternatives to corporal punishment” developed in 2001 by the Ministry of Education should be updated, codified and introduced into the school system as soon as possible; educators, parents and children must be assisted to develop positive values of discipline rather than cling to a punitive mind-set.
These values should be reflected in appropriate legislation, particularly the Education Act and the Children’s Act; teacher training should incorporate appropriate courses to address issues of resolving conflict and stress management; the Ministry of Education must act decisively to promote a more humane environment in schools. Violence by teachers must be seen publicly to attract serious penalties; a campaign to educate the public around this process should be set in train.
