Teachers urged to avoid punishing students

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 11/09/2009 7:18 PM  |  National

Teachers have been told to avoid punishing their students, either by bullying or by administering corporal punishment, a top executive of the Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI) says.
 
Unifah Rosyidi, PGRI’s vice chairwoman, said Monday teachers should be responsible for protecting their students rather than punishing them in order to develop more child-friendly education.

“We still hear about cases of physical abuse, although the number is small,” she said on the sidelines of an international seminar on developing child-friendly schools.
 
Bodil Rasmusson from Lund University in Sweden told the seminar many countries had made efforts to ban or to find alternatives to corporal punishment.
 
“Some countries have initiated work on protecting children from family violence and abuse, in close cooperation with the local community,” he said.
 
Efforts to protect students have not stopped there, some countries had built shelters and improved their sanitary facilities to protect children’s health, he added. (adh)

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