Teachers warned against beating up students

Islamabad : The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) has warned the teachers of Islamabad's government schools and colleges against subjecting their students to corporal punishment.

According to the FDE, which regulates public sector schools and colleges in the Islamabad Capital Territory, a number of corporal punishment complaints against teaching staff and head teachers in the educational institutions have been lodged.

"This directorate re-iterates the earlier instructions conveyed for protection of children against corporal punishment guaranteed as fundamental rights in the Constitution," a circular issued by the FDE said.

The directorate asked all area education officers and heads of the educational institutions and their teaching and non-teaching staff members to take every step for the protection of children against any type of punishment using physical force and intended to cause a certain degree of pain or discomfort by any person.

It described the corporal punishment as hitting, smacking, slapping, spanking a child with hand(s) or with an implement (a whip, stick, belt, shoe, wooden spoon etc), kicking, shaking or throwing a child, scratching, pinching, biting, pulling hair or boxing/twisting ears, forcing a child to stay in uncomfortable position, burning, scolding or forced ingestion, and other non-physical forms of punishment, which were cruel and degrading and belittles, humiliates, denigrates, scapegoats, threatens, scares or ridicules the child.

"Every child has the right to be shown respect for his or her personality and individuality and shall not be made subject to corporal punishment or any other humiliating or degrading treatment," it said.

The FDE said disciplinary measures concerning the child would be taken in accordance with his or her dignity.

It warned that corporal punishment or punishment, which related to the child's physical and mental development or which might affect the child's emotional state, should not be tolerated in future under any circumstances, and that it should be treated as misconduct for action against the people concerned under the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules 164 of the Government Servants Rules, 1973.