UNICEF: 85% of Nigerian School Children Suffer Violence Under Guise of Discipline

Kuni Tyessi

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has decried the ill treatment meted on school children, saying 85 per cent of them between the ages of one and 14 experience violent discipline in schools, with nearly one in every three children experiencing severe physical punishment.

UNICEF’s Chief of Education, Saadhna Panday-Soobrayan, disclosed this in Abuja, yesterday, at a two-day National Awareness Creation Meeting on Ending Corporal Punishment in schools, organised by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, (TRCN) in collaboration with UNICEF.

Panday-Soobrayan described the discussion on ending corporal punishment in schools as, “difficult and heart-breaking,” stating that the presence of participants at the meeting was a testament to Nigeria’s determination to uphold every child’s right to safety, well-being and quality, inclusive education.

“Yesterday we confronted the harrowing reality that 85 per cent of children between the

ages of one and 14 in Nigeria experience violent discipline, with nearly one in three children experiencing severe physical punishment.

“This is a staggering statistic colleagues one that demands urgent action and is indicative of a crisis!

“Much of this violent discipline takes place in the form of corporal punishment in the very institutions that are entrusted to keep children safe, develop respect for human rights and prepare them for life in a society that promotes understanding peace, and conflict resolution through dialogue,” she said.

According to her, the persistence of the practices contradicts Nigeria’s National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools, that commits to zero-tolerance to any threat to the security of life and property in schools.

Panday-Soobrayan also noted that the practices were, “stalling Nigeria’s progress toward SDG 3 to ensure good health and well-being, SDG 4 on equitable and inclusive quality education and target 16.2 (to end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children).”

While noting the impact of corporal punishment on children was devastating, she lamented that children were always left with both physical and psychological wounds.

She further stated that, “physical punishment causes not only pain, sadness, fear, shame and anger, but is also linked with children’s hyper-reactivity to stress, changes in brain structure and function, and overloaded nervous, cardiovascular, and nutritional systems. Spanking, just like more severe abuse, is linked to atypical brain function.

“The damage is not only acute, affecting their learning in the current moment, but also chronic. A large body of research links physical punishment with long-term disability or death; mental ill-health; impaired cognitive and socio-emotional development; school dropout and poorer academic and occupational outcomes; increased antisocial behaviour, aggression and criminal behaviour in adulthood; and damaged relationships through its intergenerational transmission.”

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, represented by Hajia Binta Abdulkadir endorsed the action plan and roadmap for ending corporal punishment in schools in line with the Child’s Rights Act passed into law in 2003, protecting children’s right to a life free of violence.

Adamu noted that globally there are evidence indicating the corporal punishment in schools have impacted negatively on attendance and learning and outcomes.

“In Nigeria, studies have indicated that corporal punishment is one of the key factors militating against retention and transition of pupils in our schools which have huge implications on the educational system and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 4,” he said.

Earlier, the Registrar of TRCN, Prof Josiah Ajiboye, noted that globally there had been a paradigm shift from corporal punishment in schools because of its effect on pupils, adding that such practices had been proven to be ineffective, dangerous and an unacceptable method of controlling and maintaining behavior and discipline.

Ajiboye said corporal punishment brings negative, rather than positive consequences in the whole process of teaching and learning.

“It tends to increase child aggression and antisocial behavior, lower intellectual achievements, enhance poor quality of parent/teacher student relation and cause mental health problems.

“Since corporal punishment tend to de-humanise children and make them feel scared, ashamed and worthless during learning and teaching process, the time has come for it to be eliminated from both homes and schools so as to enhance positive learning.

“It is our desire that children’s learning experience should always be positive, and never traumatic. With enthusiasm I appreciates representatives of FME, NUT, CSOs and all Education stakeholders for their dedication in endorsing Safe to Learn initiative geared towards ending violence in and through schools,” he said.

On his part, the World Bank Senior Education Specialist, Prof Tunde Adekola, said the global bank believes there is a correlation between learning poverty and corporal punishment, while stressing the urgency of implementing the action plan against corporal punishment in schools.

Adekola also called for a coalition of stakeholders from states and local governments as well as non-state actors, civil society organisations, and others to implement action against corporal punishment.