Alternative for caning; GES list of recommended disciplinary measures..
The Ghana Education Service (GES), in 2017 officially banned all forms of corporal punishment meted out to children in schools in Ghana as part of efforts aimed at promoting a safer and more protective learning environment for children.
The introduction of toolkit by The Guidance and Counseling Unit offers options for the effective application of positive discipline for different forms of misbehaviour and proposes suitable proactive or reactive measures for addressing them, instead of the traditional approach, which is caning. The toolkit has classified misbehaviour into various levels.
The first thing every teacher must institute to ensure discipline is the setting of classroom rules posted on notice boards as a visual reminder of expected behaviours from the students
List of measures approved by GES to ensure discipline in schools:
1. Writing Lines
The child is given a sentence to write several times over. The sentence should positively reinforce that child’s need and ability to adhere to the recommended forms of behaviour. Draft the sentence the student would have to write and give him/her a deadline for submission of the lines.
2. Cleaning
This involves students being asked to undertake some form of community service, such as picking litters or cleaning some particular area of the school; but certainly not the toilets. Picking litters, arranging seats in the classrooms and other tasks considered as more sanitation-friendly are preferred to the ones that could expose them to sicknesses. It is very important for a teacher to ensure that the child carries out the sanction.
3. Designated Seating Position
This involves seating the student right in front of or beside the teacher in order to keep an eye on him/her or to move the student from a position that encourages him/her to engage in disruptive behaviour.
4. Counselling
With the consent of the student, refer him/her to the school counsellor along with background on the student’s behaviour over time to be counselled. Set appropriate meeting time for the student to meet with the counsellor.
5. Extra Tasks
This has to do with giving the child extra tasks (e.g.extra homework). Inform the child about the extra task(s) he/she would be expected to complete. Follow up to ensure the task is completed.
6. Withdrawing a responsibility
Leadership positions and other responsibilities can be temporarily or permanently withdrawn from the child (e.g. position on the school soccer team or prefectship). This is a punitive measure that can ensure conformity.
7. Letter to parents
This includes writing letters to the child’s parents/guardians in order to inform them about the infractions or chronic misbehaviours exhibited by the child. Meeting with the child’s parent(s) to assess the child’s behaviour could help to determine the steps to be taken to reform his/her behaviour.
In conclusion, every recalcitrant behaviour that has attracted a sanction or punishment must be recorded in the Student Behaviour Logbook. This could give credence to the chronological behaviours and punitive measures of such students and could be used as a reference material or even a legal document when the need arises. This could serve as a deterrent as the child would have the opportunity to alter his/her behaviour in order to avoid reaching the threshold number of entries that could require even more serious sanctions.
The Director of Guidance and Counselling Unit of the GES, Ivy Kumi on Citi TV’s “The Point of View” urged parents to take on teachers who cane their children as she considers such actions by teachers as synonymous to assaults on children.
Source: GES Disciplinary Toolkit
What other measures are appropriate? Kindly share in the comment section below.
Mr. Takyi Michael
Educational Consultant and In-Service Trainer
I personally don't agree to the writing lines. This because, most children who are lazy in writing at the lower classes, will then see writing as a punishment rather a norm as learning
ReplyDeleteI agree
DeleteWhat about you do all these things and the child didn't change? What next. I see all the toolkits as a process not an event. If yes, let take three children in one class of 80 students who like bullying. How do you check on them and still control and engage the rest.
ReplyDeleteDetention… then during detention you try and find out what is really wrong with that kid … children are deviant for a reason … if you are able to figure it out they become good kids … or just refer them to the schools counsellor
DeleteDesignated sitting positions and counseling will do the magic. No need for the others.
ReplyDeleteThey are humans that need to be talked to. Not punish.
Thank you
DeleteGood message
ReplyDeleteAll these alternative punishments demand extra work from already overburdened teachers. Ghanaians always implementing policies without making resources available. They want it all without a penny.
ReplyDeleteSay it again
DeleteWell said
DeleteHahaha so true dear
DeleteAlways trying to over burden without any form of teacher motivation
Retaining the child from enjoying his or her break period is also an effective measure one can use to ensure discipline in children without using the cane.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThis policy will one day work is real positive measures are put in place to let it work. The following are the reason why:
ReplyDelete1. GES, does not recruit worker who to take care of sanitation of our schools. Teachers forced learners with cane to do the sweeping of the school compounds, in the classroom, headteachers' offices staff room and others. In the process they used cane.
2. GES does not recruit professional counselors to our schools to be in charge of behavioural issues of our Learner. Again teacher are expected to play such roles. In the process they got worried and back to canning.
3. GES failed to educate parents. Some parents still drag their wards to school and order teachers to cane them. Some parent are even withdrawing their wards public schools to private schools because they don't believe that better training can come without canning.
4. Religious view in school is another hindrance. Do you remember that biblical quotation? It says that you are only spoiling the child if you don't use cane on them.
5. The learners themselves summon their colearners to teacher and wish he should be caned because that learner offend them.
So l can say that the policy is ok. But there is no good structure to let it work.
Wonderful write up! Thanks for the insight, Michael
ReplyDeleteFrom my point of view, I don't subscribe to all children being corrected with cane either in school at home. Because I believe we have different categories of children; there are those who can be corrected by simple gestures, there are those also who will change by advise and there are those also who needs the cane to correct them and so this must be relooked at otherwise there's going to so much rot in our society.
ReplyDeleteOur leaders today, do give us tales of how cane changed some of them and made them who they are today. But here they are taking what made them who they are totally out and making it look like it is evil. But I see the whole agenda behind not using the cane a ploy to rot the children of the poor who by virtue of nutrition and parental care develop with behaviours that demands the cane is used which indirectly removes the foolishness in them and make them successful in academics and great in future,just like we have today in Ghana.
Why do I say it is a ploy?
ReplyDeletePrior to this time, the children of the rich by virtue of money and exposure to technology were far ahead of the children of the poor and the middle income.
But today, the case is different considering that the technology gap is gradually closing and many poor but determined children are taking advantage of technology to change their lives. Today, a number of our leaders who hitherto to this time were from poor parents are now well to do and their story is an inspiration to the less endowed today. And as if to say that if care is not taken to cripple the education system so that the children of the rich stand at an advantage into the future, then the children of the rich may not have upper hands over anything again and may have to compete for their desires. But by nature, the rich don't compete and so something should be done to the system so that the gap don't normalise and that's why we're seeing what is happening.
From a poorly implemented free shs policy to a poorly changed new curriculum and to many other examples in the education system today.
That's my opinion