Abolishment of Corporal Punishment to Blame for Poor Academic Performance in Schools

Worried about the nagging issue of poor academic Performance in most schools in the country? Blame the phenomenon on the abolishment of corporal punishment in the schools.

The abolishment of caning in the schools as a disciplinary measure in the view of Madam Mary Maku Teye is a major contributory factor hampering the delivery of quality education in the country and which therefore adversely affects academic performances.

The Guidance and Counseling Coordinator for the Yilo Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region who describes corporal punishment as the use of cane or any other means to correct a child regretted the abolishment of the act.

Speaking in an interview with Captain Adabugar during the DEOP II segment of the Rite Morning Ride on Thursday to share her take on the topic: ‘Alternative to corporal punishment in schools and its effect on academic success,’ the Guidance and Counseling Coordinator attributed the fall in academic performances to the directive which has encouraged students to disregard directions.

“The abolishment of the corporal punishment in schools is the cause of poor performances in schools because there is no discipline in the system,” Madam Maku Teye underscored.

She said student now take their teachers for granted and disobey instructions “because corporal punishment has been abolished in Ghana’s schools.

“Children don’t fear their teachers anymore. They don’t do their homework because they know, they are not going to be punished,” she said.

Reasons behind the prohibition of canning in schools, according to the counsellor, is to protect the teachers and school authorities from the incessant attacks and instant justices suffered by teachers from parents and families of children for administering lashes to students as a corrective measure.

In worst case scenarios, some of the attacks, he said, resulted in the death of students.

Madam Mary Maku Teye expressed dissatisfaction with alternative methods of farming which she noted was inefficient in correcting errant children.

“What teachers are doing now instead of corporal punishment is to asked the students to pick papers on campus, water flowers, walking a distance and writing of sentences as means of correction and this is not yielding any positive results,” she warned.

STAR-Ghana with financial funding from DANIDA, Ukaid and The European Union is supporting Rite FM in the ongoing District Education Observer Project (DEOP II) which seeks to help improve the academic performance of schools in the Yilo Krobo Municipality.

Source: Prince Paul Amuzu/www.ritefmonline.org/princeamuzu667@gmail.com