A large number of students drop out of schools due to physical abuse
Hands stretched forward, ready to receive a blow on the knuckles from the teacher’s ruler or stick. Being sent to the principal’s office for caning. Forced to stand in the corner of the classroom or outside its door. Made to sit on a dustbin during class, resulting in humiliation. The images that come to mind when we mention corporal punishment at schools, vary. But for many schoolchildren in Pakistan, punishments can be much more severe even deadly.
In January 2018, a nine-year-old boy, Mohammad Hussain, was beaten to death by his madrassah teacher, Najmuddin, in Eidu Goth of Bin Qasim Town in Karachi, because the boy had escaped from the seminary.
Islamabad: Pakistan’s National Assembly has passed the ‘Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill’ that bans corporal punishment in all forms or shapes at educational institutions and seminaries of the capital.
The bill was moved by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Member of the National Assembly Mehnaz Akbar Aziz and was supported by both the ruling and the opposition members of the house. The bill had been waiting approval of the National Assembly since 2019 after a standing committee passed it.
Then it was sent to another committee for deliberation. Recently, the main motivator of the bill, Founder of Zindgi Trust and children’s rights activist, Shehzad Roy, raised the issue on social media and even held a meeting with the Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser seeking his help in its speedy passage.