The Ghana Education Service (GES) has shrugged off responsibility for the ordeal of the 11-year-old pupil, Korkuvie Seyram who was blinded by his class teacher, Madam Adzo Kafui, while caning him at the Juapong Textiles Limited School in the Volta Region.
According to the deputy public relations officer of GES, Mr. Pius Attise, GES, as a policy, is against corporal punishment (physical punishment, such as caning or flogging) without obtaining permission from the school authorities.
He enumerated some of the conditions under which a child may be given corporal punishment as follows.
“Permission from the school authorities, permission form the pupil’s parents and sometimes in the presence of the pupil’s parents.
“This measure is to ensure that such punishment does not have negative effects on the child.
“Ordinary offenses like lateness or talking during silence hour do not require corporal punishment.
He stressed therefore that “if a teacher imposes corporal punishment on a pupil without passing through the above conditions, and complications like this develop, he or she takes responsibility until the victim is completely recovered.
Invariably therefore, any teacher who goes against this directive is solely responsible for the outcome such as pertains in the case of the Juapong school teacher and the 11-year-old pupil.
The deputy PRO said, as a result, “In this case, I want to conclude that the matter should be taken up by the police. It is corporal punishment without permission.”
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