PESHAWAR, Sept 3: Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) on Friday urged upon the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to prohibit corporal punishment in schools bylaws.A Sparc statement said its regional manager Jahanzeb Khan and provincial manager Ijaz Khan met Provincial Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Sardar Hussain Babak and made the plea, informing him that around 33 per cent children were dropping out from public and private schools every year due to corporal punishment.
They called for proper legislation to prohibit the practice.
Sparc team shared a copy of draft of the bill prepared by its legal unit, which proposed a complete mechanism to abolish all kind of corporal punishment under various international conventions, covenants and instruments.
The bill states that every child has the right to be shown respect for his personality and individuality and shall not be made subject to corporal punishment or any other humiliating or degrading treatments.
Sparc team also discussed the amendment in Primary Compulsory Education Act 1996, which required free education from 5 to 10 year, which has been raised to 16 years under section 25A of the 18th Amendment. The Sparc urged the provincial government to amend that law in the light of the 18th Amendment.
Mr Babak showed his willingness to abolish the corporal punishment in the schools and assured the delegation of taking concrete steps to this effect.
He said the government had started providing education material in flood affected schools of Nowshera and was planning to distribute that material in other districts as well.
The minister appreciated Sparc efforts and said the government alone could not achieve the goals and needed support of the NGOs in this regard. (Dawn)
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