Abstract:
This study examined teachers’ interpretation of the Lesotho
Education Act of 2010’s phrase “cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment” and its impact on how learners are disciplined. For
some researchers, punishment in schools is associated with
corporal punishment. For this reason, researchers often focus on
the issue of abolishing corporal punishment, thereby overlooking
other non-physical forms of punishment despite them being
equally agonising. This study departed from the interpretivist
paradigm and adopted a qualitative approach. An open-ended
qualitative research questionnaire was used to generate data.
This was followed up with focus group interviews conducted with
the teachers in some selected Lesotho secondary schools. The
findings indicate that teachers interpret the above phrase as a
mere referring to the abolishment of corporal punishment. Hence
teachers still use other forms of cruel, degrading and inhumane
punishments such as insulting and ridiculing the learners, despite
the legislation protecting children against abuse. These forms
of teacher behaviour not only constitute learner abuse, but also
compromise the professional ethics by which teachers ought to
abide. The recommendation made by the study is that teachers
should be mindful of the teaching professional ethics taught to them
during their pre-service training. In addition, Lesotho’s Ministry of
Education and Training, in collaboration with other stakeholders,
should train teachers on children’s rights and how to safeguard
such rights in the school setting.
