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Bush Lot Secondary student alleges beating with steel ruler
Teacher returned later “…with a next thicker steel ruler and then he lashed me four more times, and then my left hand started to bleed”- Student
A 12-year-old West Berbice lad was allegedly dealt eight lashes on his palms with two metal
12- year- old Mukesh Mooklall
rulers by a teacher of the Bush Lot Secondary School. The beating allegedly resulted in lacerations.
The boy’s adopted grandfather is disturbed by the entire matter, especially the manner in which it is being handled by the Education Ministry and the Head Mistress, Ms Catherine Beaton.
The Grade Seven boy, in the presence of his grandmother, told Kaieteur News that just after 14:00 hours on November 14, he was playing with an eraser in his hand, when the eraser accidentally flipped out of his hand and landed on a girl in the class.
The girl complained to the teacher, Gerald Moonsammy.
The young industrial Arts teacher then entered the class and asked the girl to identify the student in question. She identified the boy.
The child said that the teacher collected a 12-inch metal ruler and imposed four lashes on his palms, two on each hand. The teacher then put the boy to stand in front of the chalkboard with his hands in the air, and then left to go outside.
The punishment was not over. After two minutes, the boy said that the teacher returned to whip him some more.
“He saw Kevin (a student in the class) with a next thicker steel ruler and then he lashed me four more times, and then my left hand started to bleed badly,” the boy added.
He said the entire class witnessed this incident. The class, he said, brought the teacher’s attention to the bleeding boy’s hand, but all the teacher did was give him a handkerchief for the blood and he (the teacher) left the class.
The boy said that he then left for the Head Mistress’s office and related what happened. He showed her his bleeding hand. She immediately started to bandage the hand It was dismissal time, shortly after he returned to the class.
Upon arrival at home, the boy’s grandfather, Siri Mooklall, took him that afternoon to the Regional Education Department at Fort Wellington, and informed the Regional Education Officer.
The officer then asked Mooklall to visit the school the following day, which he did. During a meeting the following day at the school with Ms Basdeo, the HM, the teacher and Mr Mooklall, it was discovered that several breaches occurred.
According to Mr Mooklall, the teacher admitted to whipping the child and contravening regulations for corporal punishment in schools.
Mooklall also revealed that there was no evident entry of the whipping, as stipulated by Ministry of Education regulations, in the school’s Misdemeanor’s Book. The third breach was that the HM was not informed by the teacher that he had administered corporal punishment.
Another breach was that the instrument used to whip the child was out of order, since it was made of metal.
The boy was then taken to the Fort Wellington Hospital where he received a medical certificate from Dr Nelson Sinclair.
On Wednesday, during another visit with the Education Officer, Mr Mooklall related that the officer told him that he will make contact with the teacher’s father, who is employed with the Region Five Democratic Council, where a settlement can be offered. Mr Mooklall said he never agreed to such a thing and left the office.
The following day, he said that the HM went to the class and embarrassed the child by telling the class that his grandfather wants money to settle the matter.
The boy’s grandfather said that he wants the matter to be properly dealt with. He feels that the authorities are delaying action since they want to cover up the matter.
The Bush Lot Secondary School, where the incident took place
Young Mukesh said that to date the teacher has never apologized or asked to see the hands where the lashes were administered.
When contacted, Head Mistress of Bush Lot Secondary, Mrs Catherine Beaton, said, “I don’t know if the child was whipped with iron ruler. I can tell you when the boy came to me, his hands had two little—little—cuts; so it’s obvious the teacher must have hit the child.”
She said that she “called the teacher and reprimanded him”. She also stated that an entry was made in the Misdemeanor’s Book, after the incident took place.
When asked if the teacher had acted against MOE CP policy, Beaton replied, “If you hit a child, the head teacher is the sole authority to delegate perhaps, a senior teacher.” She related that Moonsammy is not a senior teacher.
Regional Education Officer Mr Owen Pollard was out of office on Friday afternoon.
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this youth should have been growing up in my time when wildcanes were used, then he would have had something to cry about!
Well its not your time ..its his time now .’.this time na lang time ‘.
You see clearly where Guyana is headed with this nonsense of corporal punishment of an out of place child. When a teacher cannot spank children for wrong doings then, we are snugly in the zone of the American system where society become prisoner to a bunch of hooligans. Watch out Guyana!
Immediate suspenpension,,for three months ,,,the childmust be apoplogised to with renumeration,,and this vagabond for a teacher must recieve a half of his slary for the suspended three months,,this is sending a signl to othere teachers whom would anticipate repeating the said action,,,the headmistress must be immediately disciplined,,once there is blood ,,this is subject to jail.simple and the truth.
It is a common practise in Guyana for teachers to inflict corporal punishment inhumanly to children.This has been the order since colonial times and the trend continues until today.Not only is it inhuman to treat children in this manner ,but numerous children are scared of teachers maltreatment which leads to mass drop outs.I myself was a victim of teacher’s cruelty which caused a lot of problems in my school days.Children need consulling,every child will misbehave, it is the process of growing.Those involved in this case need to be brought to justice, and i implore the law to take a firm stand.My sympathy to the child and his family.
Too much pressure was brought on the teacher and HM of the school. Teachers are NOT routinely taught how to discipline students. The SYSTEM has failed.
This is child mis-handeling, Mr.Mooklall should seek legal advise from one of our AFC lawyers in N/A seeing he is closer to New Amsterdam than GT. Gerald Moonsammy, Cathrine Beanton and that Basdoe woman should be to face the UNICEF…..Errol help out dis poor old man please….You were a teacher for years and you should know that no one has the right to hit some-boddy else’s child,…In the western world parents cannot hit their own children,…The teachers are ALL EYES & EARS.
This is not disciplining a child this is abuse of a child and as such the police needs to investigate the matter an take the appropriate action. This is what needs to be banned from the schools.
The Headmistress in my view is in the wrong place.She should not be heading a school with that dont care attitude.If a child goes to you with even a scratch on his hands ,as a teacher you need to find out what happen,he is under your care whilst not at home.As for the teacher that physically injured that child ,I think the law should step in and deal with the situation accordingly.I cant imagine what would be my mental state if my child coming home and tell me something like that.
Oh God what a cruel act of child abuse. Action required by the relevant Governement agency. Before action check that this is not reverse physcology in action . Is there a bigger problem at this school?
the corruption never ends!!jail the bastards.
Corporal punishment is outdated and outlawed in the modern world. In days gone by punishment by caneing was authorized. At that time, no teacher or headmaster was authorized to whip a child to the point of drawing blood. Now in these modern days, this sort of behaviour by a teacher should be classified as a criminal offence and the teacher should be charged. Sorry for the lad. Use this teacher as an example to show that teachers are definitely not authorized,and are taking the temporary caretaker position which is entrusted to them by the parents, to a whole new level, a level that even the parents dare not go.
Did the eraser damage the girl?
when they have personal problems at home they want to come and take it out on our kids, i dont care what that child did you should not of beaten him in that manner,THAT IS ABUSE.. HE SHOULD BE FIRED. I have kids and i dont want to hear no teacher beating my child like that it will be a war…i am so mad right now at this teacher behavior, you have to learn to control yourself in a professional manner .FIRE HIM!
this is abuse to the highest extend he (the teacher) should be fired, this is someone child you cant go about beating children in that manner, when you have your problems at home you should leave them there(at home). i am a mother and would like to see any teacher beating my child or children like that dont matter what they do to get that beating, you have to beat with feelings as if that child is yous own.FIRE HIM THIS INSTANCE!
i applaud neiladams and Quibian for their comments…the rest of you, well i think you-all need a few of these lashes too! Teachers dont beat students because they wanna exercise their hands, or cuz they want to unleash anger…In fact, as i see it, corporal punishment is the singly most effective way of saying to those bad-ways bent, recalcitrants “hey, yuh doin crap, n yuh bettaz stop now!”….Unfortunately, some students (and even a few parents) misinterpret corporal punishment to be something evil, something bad, something that should be eluded..Well to you parents, i say keep counciling ur kids…keep talking to them nicely (ALL THE TIME)…when they do wrong, keep sayin (calmly) “dont do that”…..keep doing it parents…10, 15, 20 yrs frm now, u’ll probably b goin to the prison with “bail money” or perhaps, the morgue to identify a body….
#Just_saying…
memba wen i used to get lash in school in guyana for no reason y dnt they go and beat they own children