The Alliance For Change (AFC) is supportive of the abolition of corporal punishment under the new Education Act, which will bring Guyana in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
AFC Member of Parliament Chantalle Smith submitted a Motion on Wednesday, seeking that the National Assembly declares the continued use of corporal punishment in schools a violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
A proposal for the new Education Act is being drafted, and should be tabled in Parliament soon.
This Act will take into account the Education Ministry's 2008-2015 Strategic Plan, which was finalised after some 34 regional and national consultations.
The main focus of the plan includes significantly improving literacy and numeracy skills; assuring greater equity in the sector; increasing the level of respect for tolerance and diversity; increasing focus on educational human resource development; and the improvement of management and accountability.
Smith posits that, in 1991, Guyana signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child .
Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child States that Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social, and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.
Smith notes that the Committee of the Convention on the Rights of the Child has consistently proposed the abolition of corporal punishment when the reporting process under the Convention has revealed the continued existence of school corporal punishment.
In support of her Motion, Smith pointed out that the Government of Guyana's Report to the Committee of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on July 29, 2002 states: “Enhanced legislation is an integral element in this country's efforts to give tangible effect to the provisions of the CRC.”
She added that the Government of Guyana's Report to the Committee of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on July 29, 2002 further states, “The Constitutional Reform Commission acknowledged that the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child should inform constitutional provisions to protect children's rights. The Oversight Select Committee of the revised Guyana Constitution subsequently accepted the above recommendations, and in 2001, these rights were accorded the status of fundamental and human rights in the amended Constitution.”
After a series of recently held, comprehensive, countrywide consultations aimed at facilitating parental and community participation on the issue, a recent study done by the Ministry of Education indicated that the Guyanese populace is deeply divided on whether or not to abolish corporal punishment.