Times Of Swaziland: WE’RE STRIPPED, CANED WITH  A PLANK - SALESIAN PUPILS

WE’RE STRIPPED, CANED WITH  A PLANK - SALESIAN PUPILS
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 BY JABULISA DLAMINI on 02/08/2017 04:13:00


MANZINI – Stripped and caned with a plank. That is the torture that Salesian
High School pupils are alleged to be exposed to from teachers.
Salesian is an all boys school within the country’s hub.
The pupils alleged that before being beaten, they are told to pull down their
school pants and underwear, and then thrashed on the buttocks.
These allegations were reported to this publication by parents and the affected
pupils.
Some of the disgruntled pupils alleged their teachers canned them on their
buttocks using a plank and a piece of piping that is used to connect the big gas
cylinders to stoves.
They are then beaten on their bare buttocks.
Such punishment has sparked outrage from parents who have alleged that enquiring
about such had led to so much victimisation of their children to the point that
they decided to let things be.
“When such incidents occur at the school, who do you report to as the pupils
are pointing at the administration? This is saddening because our children are
even scared of reporting such incidents. I saw my child while he was inside the
bathroom and he was badly scarred. When I asked him what had happened, he told
me that he had been whipped at school by one of the teachers. He further advised
me not to go to the school as he feared being victimised or sent home,” a
parent who did not want to be named, said.
Most of the pupils revealed that they had been given lashes for ‘no valid’
reasons.
They alleged that late coming, eating sweets while at the school premises and
being found in wrong buildings among other things, were some of the
misdemeanours they were punished for at the school.
“When you are late by five minutes, it is better to just go back home because
you will be severely punished. I was recently punished after I was found by one
of the teachers studying inside the laboratory. This was after I decided to
leave one noisy class as I could not concentrate,” a pupil, who was struck on
the buttocks, said.
The pupils claimed that they were scared to report the incidents as the school
administration did not bother addressing the issues with their parents.