The other day I witnessed the most extreme abuse I have ever seen in a Tanzanian school. This case is illustrative of how Tanzanian schools handle teachers who give corporal punishment outside the legal and ethical boundaries of their society.<\/p>\n
I was standing outside my office watching a teacher, who is consistently abusive in his punishments, yell at students. Classes had been canceled for the rest of the day (3 periods), so that students could cut grass, and he was displeased with how the students were approaching the work. He began yelling at students, and then proceeded to yell at one of the best form Form IV girls, who also happens to be a Discipline Prefect. He made her bend over, and proceeded to beat her four times on the back with very hard strokes. After the first two she tried to walk away to recover, and the teacher followed her, giving her two more. The punishment appeared to be over, and she walked across the grass away from him. The teacher yelled at her, following her. She turned around, and he proceeded to use two sticks – one in each hand – to beat her furiously on the front of her body 8 times. He hit her legs, arms and chest. He was obviously beyond angry and was acting without a thought for the legal boundaries that constrain corporal punishment of students (which, I believe, say that girls are only allowed to be hit on the hands, only by women teachers, and not more than three times).<\/p>\n
She was crying, and as the teacher walked away, the Discipline Master (who witnessed all but the start of the abuse) approached. She approached the Discipline Master, who told her to go to our office. I approached her, apologizing for the teacher, and telling her that his punishment was unacceptable. This is the first time that I have ever done so. We walked to my office, where she sat in tears for 20 minutes. I asked her what the teacher had said she had done, and she told me that she had not been doing a good enough job making the students cut the grass, because she had a headache. This is what justified the horrific beating she received in front of a large crowd of students. I told her that I would help her file a complaint if she wanted, and that I would do anything I could to help her.<\/p>\n
The Discipline Master came in a few minutes later, and I approached him, saying that the punishment was completely unacceptable and abusive. He agreed, saying that he would take it up with the Secondmaster or the Headmaster. I explained what had happened, my disgust evident, and he said that he had seen it as well, and did not think it was good, though he seemed more concerned that she was a girl and had been beaten in front of all the students. I asked if I should come with him to discuss it, and he said it would not be necessary.<\/p>\n
Later that afternoon I spoke with him again. He said that the girl had been allowed to go home, and that the issue would be taken up in the next staff meeting (who knows when), and that teachers would be encouraged to comply with the regulations on punishment. He said it was not a good idea to talk to the teacher directly, because he obviously had anger issues, and a direct confrontation would not solve the problem. He also said that the student had agreed to forgive the teacher (no doubt because he would make her life miserable if she tried to complain).<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that the punishment this teacher administered went over the line in so many ways, it is now a mere agenda item on the next staff meeting, and the teacher will not be directly approached for his misconduct. The way this issue was handled is so illustrative of how Tanzanian schools function that to imagine a different resolution is completely mind-blowing. The headmaster would never think to pursue this seriously, and even district officials, made aware of such abuse, would never seriously consider any kind of punishment for the teacher, because this is what goes on every day in schools across the country. This is Tanzania.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The other day I witnessed the most extreme abuse I have ever seen in a Tanzanian school. This case is illustrative of how Tanzanian schools handle teachers who give corporal punishment outside the legal and ethical boundaries of their society. … Continue reading