Nasarawa state residents bare their minds on banning of corporal punishment in schools by the state government.

 

By Grace Anyu Paul & Yakubu Tunga

 

Salim Ahmad (student)

Abolishment of corporal punishment in school is a good idea. You see when you are being flogged or punished, you forget whatever you have read and so it affects your studies.

Henry Samuel (student)

The issue of punishment is not the best, this is because in the morning, you will see students hanging around the school when assembly or class is going on. Why? They are afraid of being punished and most a time the punishment is uncalled for.

Corper Princess

There are other ways you can give punishment like kneeling down it most not necessarily be flogging or beating a student/pupil because some of these student live their homes without really eating well, so having to beat or flog them, that may result to something else. So I don’t think it’s proper to flog a child rather give him other punishment.

Comrade Chukudi (Corper)

Learning has to do with interest and when you don’t discipline this students/pupils, you may not arouse that interest to learn and laziness can sometimes make them not to do things right. But when you bring in discipline which is in many ways depending on the individual, you will see that flogging is not necessary. But you most know that discipline can’t be taken away from learning.

Halima Sani (Trader)

Punishing student any how is not the best. They should be given punishment that will not affect their health as well as their studies, at least something to make them understand that they have misbehaved.

Aliyu Ahmad Yahaya (student)

Some students are stubborn and disrespectful. The only language they understand is punishment so once there is punishment they behave.

Mr. Barnabas Egga (Parent)

I am not in support of the abolishment of punishment in school. How will the student learn? This is unlike the 70s and 80s where students are eager to learn. The students need some discipline to stimulate them. This shows that one can’t go without the other. If they are left on their own, they will do whatever they wish and think its right for them.

Mr. O. Oguoffi (Parent)

Corporal punishment is not necessary. You can give other forms of punishment to a student but the idea of corporal punishment can become a problem. Why? Because most students are walking corpses and by the time you adopt such punishment on them, something dangerous will happen and no one will care to know if you are correcting them or not because you committed crime.

Victoria Ali (student)

Punishing student without reasons does not make sense at all. Most a time you will see students being punished for no reason. May be all that student needs is some talks that will bring him to order but they will rather punish him to create pain on such student.

Patience Chiamaka Obanna (student)

Looking at it, punishments sometimes help the student because most students prove to be stubborn and so they don’t obey authorities but once punishment is involved they do what is right. In terms of learning, punishment creates seriousness and focus among students, but once a student is left on his own to do what he likes, it kills that zeal, interest and desire to learn. But it should not be done unnecessarily.

Fatima Aminu (student)

The issues of punishment have drastically reduced in school and this has gone a long way in helping us in our studies. We are now left on our own and to some extent are able to focus on our studies.

Rabi Aliyu (Parent)

There is nothing wrong with punishing students because we punished them even at home when they do wrong. I have no problem with them being punished when they do wrong.

Shuaibu Audu (Parent)

The issue of corporal punishment is not the only problem in schools but punishing student. Some are done in the right order while others are just wickedness. If a student is punished based on an offense he committed, then there is nothing wrong with that but when he is punished for no reason, he has been cheated.

Another problem in schools is that of imparting knowledge on the student. In this case, teachers always push the blame on the parent whereas it is their fault. The teachers have been given these children to teach them but some teachers will come in the morning, sign-in and go for his personal problem without coming back until closing hour, when he will sign-out and leave. Such teachers should know that someone taught them to be where they are today, that they need to teach these children to have a future. So government should please look into this, they should not just remain in their offices waiting for monthly report but should visit schools to see what is going on there.

Mrs. Fostina David (Parent)

Abolishing punishment in schools is not the best, why? Because the child will come to school anytime he feels like since there is no punishment for him coming late. Also in class, he will not be serious when tests or exams are given. The child will not work hard to see he passes because nobody will punish him, but when he knows that every failure carries a punishment he will work extra hard and even ask his elder sibling or people around to put him through because he knows that once he fails he will be punished. If there is anything to be done on this, it is to caution the teachers to minimize the level they punished not to abolish it. They are not helping us the parents, we send them there to learn and to be disciplined and if the discipline is taken away, the best will not come out of them. That’s why a child needs to grow in an environment of discipline.

Happy Maikasuwa (student)

The level of punishment in schools this term has reduced, unlike last term when a child can be flogged hundred strokes of canes as a punishment for an offense he committed. Though this is a good development, but it is not really helping the student, why? Because when a child can no longer be punished for the offences he committed, he will not learn or know what he did is an offence.