A conflict may be brewing

Sep 19, 2013 Editorial

Schools are complaining about the attitude of the students. In fact, the student population is divided between those who know why they are at school and those who are bent on creating havoc; those who now show a distinct disinclination to learning.
A close examination would reveal that those who are the disruptive elements are those who failed to grasp the rudiments of learning and who feel that they now have no place in school. Their reaction is that they have been rejected and those who seem better able to cope must be stopped at all cost.
The social scientist would say that the solution rests in rehabilitating the disruptive children by first understanding their background and then working to help them overcome any problem they might have. But such is the situation that parents do not seem to care too much at what their children have become. They are only concerned that the child is in a position to earn either legally or illegally.
That apart, though, the schools leave a lot to be desired. Many have teachers who go through the motions of teaching during the day. A look at some of the very teachers outside the classroom would reveal a different person. These are the teachers who provide after-class lessons.
In fact, one doubts that there is a child who is not required to take extra lessons. There are reports that if a parent declines the invitation from the teacher then the child suffers either by way of victimization or by a harsh grading system designed to break the morale of the child. This is one case of teachers earning money aside from their salary for which they do the minimum of work.
In the run up to the basic Grade Six examination, many children are seen to be able to read and to do basic calculations. They lose these skills early in secondary school because they tend to be semi-literate or even illiterate. These are the children who grow to be the disruptive elements in the school. Some believe that there are measures other than counseling to keep the children in line. One of the ways is corporal punishment, something that was as commonplace as chalk in classrooms of yesteryear.
The common view is that children who were once afraid of the pleasure pain principle of learning became complacent when schools relaxed on corporal punishment. A recent exploration by the Education Ministry into the pros and cons of corporal punishment revealed that the children themselves were not in favour of the abolition of corporal punishment. They claimed that they knew their peers better than most and that they all knew that the proverbial rod had a stabilizing influence on the errant child.
But there are schools where peer pressure does more than any corporal punishment. Children have their norms and anyone in their company must conform. This situation is at play all the time and so there are gangs, or social groups and the like.
Right now, the National Assembly is debating the wisdom or folly of abolishing corporal punishment. Various presentations have been made to the House. The situation is undetermined but do not tell that to the courts. Judges have sent parents to prison for beating children.
One Minister closely associated with this position said that there may be conventions that conflict with the rule of law that currently applies. Being a signatory to these conventions, Guyana has pledged to uphold the various clauses. This has led to the action of the courts that seem to run counter to the statutes.
If the courts are hinged on statutes then there should be no punishment for parents who resort to corporal punishment provided there is no cruelty. But it would seem that the courts readily heed the conventions. It would be interesting to see what happens when Parliament votes in a way that does not support the conventions that deal with the rights of the child.

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