Durban - King Goodwill Zwelithini wants corporal punishment back in schools, saying some of the problems being experienced today were because it was done away with.
“These laws do affect us negatively because children have to be corrected,” he said yesterday speaking at a gathering of educators and school governing body representatives at Esikhawini TVET College near Empangeni.
The king, however, said there should be no excessive use of corporal punishment by teachers whom he said played the role of parents in the lives of pupils.
The king’s comments came as videos of incidents of corporal punishment in KZN schools have surfaced, leading to widespread condemnation.
The king said some children were motivated to perform their best just by seeing the stick.
“That child would say, I will not make a mistake, I will listen and I will do my homework.”
MEC for Education in KwaZulu-Natal Mthandeni Dlungwana also delivered a speech at the event where he took a different approach on corporal punishment.
“It is sad and annoying that in this day and age I still find myself as the MEC for Education having to speak about corporal punishment. I do not think there is any teacher who does not know that corporal punishment was banned a long time ago”.
He also told the gathering that he was concerned about social ills including teenage pregnancies that were said to be on the rise in schools.