Corporal punishment to son saddens parent

PESHAWAR: It hurts to see scars on the body, especially the face of one’s child when he returns from school beaten by nobody else but his teacher.

It is not something new. Corporal punishment is still a regular phenomenon in the schools despite strict legislation and ban on it.

Even the private schools that charge very high fees are not free from this menace.

The Quaid-e-Azam Group of Schools and Colleges is now one of the leading chains of educational institutions and is owned by National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser.

The group enjoys a good reputation when it comes to academics, especially securing positions in educational boards’ examinations.

Because of its reputation, the parents particularly in Mardan and Swabi districts pull their kids from other schools and enroll them at one of the Quaid-e-Azam Group institution despite the fact that its charges higher fee than other schools.

But some of the parents then regret the decision for a number of reasons with corporal punishment on the top.

Hafiz Fazle Raheem is one such parent, who was seriously upset when he saw his son, student of grade 8 in Mardan branch of the school, with injury marks on his nose.

He was allegedly beaten up by his Urdu teacher for not remembering some names. “It’s cruelty. My son says the teacher struck him on his head due to which he fell on a chair and sustained injuries to his face,” the father said.

“What saddens me the most is that the worthy teacher didn’t admit his mistake to pick up the child and console him. He rather continued snubbing him,” he added. Being highly educated, Fazle Raheem wants the management of all the schools to train their teachers properly before sending them to classrooms.