Stop Beating School Children – Ogun State Commissioner Warns Teachers

The Ogun state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, warned teachers in public and private schools in the State to put an end to such punishments in order to avoid being sanctioned.

Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, said this Wednesday, during a meeting with the management Adeoye International Nursery and Primary School, Iyesi-Ota.

Arigbabu feared that canes being used in flogging may hit the pupil in sensitive parts of his body, thereby creating more problems for the school and even the State.

A teacher of the school, Mrs Taiwo Odunola, was said to have beaten a three-year-old girl on the back of her, a development that had generated reactions from the mother of the child.

Speaking, Arigbabu stressed that the state government frowns at any corrective action that would inflict injury or pain on any child.

The Commissioner maintained that government would not condone actions that could drag the name of the State in the mud.

“I want to say here as the Commissioner that I am not happy to hear of this incident and we will not allow any action that would drag the name of the State in the mud. Schools should devise effective and humane methods of disciplining a child apart from corporal punishment”, the Commissioner said.

Arigbabu said corporal punishment could lead to reducing a child’s level of confidence, maiming or even death.

He advised that schools should work in tandem with the vision of Governor Dapo Abiodun administration by being 21st century compliant in teaching and learning methods.

He identified the need for schools to organise seminars and workshops in order to update their teachers on modern ways of teaching and to come up with strategies to use in tackling indiscipline in place of corporal punishment.

Earlier, Arigbabu had spoken on a radio station in Abeokuta that Ogun would encourage the use of canes on learners by their teachers.

“Things have to be done in accordance with the law. Beating in schools is actually not encouraged. We should not do things that can complicate matters. Teachers need to be creative about disciplining a child. A lot of methods are available to discipline a child.

“In the process of beating, the cane may fall on the child’s eye and the child may lose his sight. Everything we do should be in moderation. Beating does not really translate into the good behaviour of a child,” Arigbabu said.

He, however, warned parents and students against attacking teachers in schools, stressing that anyone caught would be made to face the law.