Pravesh Sharma

The recent call by the Fijian Teachers Association to reintroduce corporal punishment in schools has been condemned by the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission.

This comes as a case has surfaced where despite corporal punishment being unlawful, such a practice remains prevalent in some schools.

Commission chair, Pravesh Sharma says they continue to receive complaints of children being subjected to physical and emotional abuse in schools.

In a recent complaint, a 15-year-old student was subjected to physical abuse by a teacher using the handle of a mop and the teacher then instructed five other students to slap the student.

In other complaints, chili was rubbed on the private parts of four boarding students for taking French-leave from school and in another case, a child was subjected to verbal abuse by his teacher.

Sharma says corporal punishment impacts a child’s health and wellbeing and the infliction of corporal punishment is unconstitutional and unlawful.

The commission while lambasting the FTA, says the reintroduction of such practices directly opposes the rights of children to a safe, supportive, and violence-free educational environment

Corporal punishment is widely recognized as a form of violence and degrading treatment, infringing on children’s inherent dignity and contravening the rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Fiji.

Sharma says Fiji has also ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which places a legal obligation on the State for the protection of children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury, or abuse as well.

He adds that it is imperative to note that in 2002, the Lautoka High Court delivered a landmark ruling in the case of Ali v State that the infliction of corporal punishment in school is unconstitutional and unlawful.

The Child Protection Policy from Ministry of Education provides that the ministry and schools shall take all appropriate measures to protect children from all forms of abuse, neglect and exploitation.

The policy also states that the Ministry of Education and schools shall have zero-tolerance against child abuse perpetrators.