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A national dialogue will be held this afternoon on the future of corporal punishment in schools to highlight the urgent need to break the cycle of violence affecting children across the country.

While citing research from the Fiji Bureau of Statistics and studies conducted in partnership with the University of the South Pacific and Fiji National University, Minister for Women and Children Sashi Kiran revealed that 80 percent children experience extreme corporal violence at home.

She says urban centers recorded 76 percent while rural areas were at 80 percent.

Kiran says while some teachers have requested corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure due to stress and classroom challenges, allowing it could lead to severe abuse.

“The problem is if they are stressed out and you allow them to do corporal punishment, they’ll probably beat the children black and blue. I think teachers do need tools, they need skills, we need to be, and Ministry of Education is already giving them alternatives. There needs to be massive upskilling, unfortunately teachers are ending up doing parenting as well, because parents are not taking their responsibility seriously. So while teachers need to be given alternatives, parents also need to be given support to do parenting.”

She also highlighted the role of education and attention in reducing negative behaviors among students.

“We are a violent society, so you don’t want to legalize something that we know we need to slowly get rid of. So in our communities, we need to talk about positive parenting, using of the right language, how to actually put values in our children from, you know, small age, so when they’re growing up, they’re respectful.”

The national dialogue will be held at the University of the South Pacific, bringing together teachers, parents, civil society organizations, representatives from the Ministries of Education and Health, and an expert judge from Samoa who serves on the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

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