Outcry Over Call to Revive Corporal Discipline

The Fijian Teachers Association (FTA) president, Netani Druavesi, has sparked controversy with his call to revive corporal punishment in schools.

Nilesh Lal, executive director of Dialogue Fiji, described this proposal as a troubling indication of how far society has regressed in recent times.

The debate over corporal punishment is causing significant community reactions, with many advocating for alternative disciplinary methods that prioritise student well-being.

Mr Lal said corporal punishment was child abuse, plain and simple.

“Imagine raising your child in a loving, non-violent home and then sending them to school when they turn six, only for them to be physically assaulted by others,” Mr Lal said.

“Only the most callous and unthinking parents would accept strangers hitting their children.”

He said that studies consistently show corporal punishment is ineffective, as it fosters a violent society by normalising aggression.

This strategy can result in increased antisocial behavior, increased defiance, and poorer academic outcomes for children who struggle to learn in fear-based environments.

He said research showed that corporal punishment often leds to mental health issues, substance abuse and difficulties in building relationships later in life.

“Evidence overwhelmingly shows that constructive, non-punitive disciplinary approaches produce better behavioural and academic outcomes,” he said.

“In a nation where child abuse rates are already shocking, Mr Druavesi’s call is dangerous and irresponsible.”

Dialogue Fiji executive director Nilesh Lal.

Reports

He said as revealed in August by Assistant Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection Sashi Kiran, five out of every six Fijian children experience abuse or neglect. Moreover, the Fiji Police Force reported 324 cases of child sexual abuse in just the first half of this year alone.

“It is a sickening indictment of our society that children are being abused at such alarming rates, and for a leader to advocate further violence against them is unconscionable,” he said.

“Many Fijians have experienced the horrors of corporal punishment in schools.

“Stories of teachers abusing their authority—beating children with sticks, belts, and planks, even throwing children out of windows of classrooms —are all too familiar.”

Fiji Human Rights

Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission chairperson Pravesh Sharma said the commission strongly condemned the call by FTA to reintroduce corporal punishment in schools.

“The infliction of corporal punishment is unconstitutional and unlawful,” Mr Sharma said.

The reintroduction of corporal punishment in Fiji’s education system is seen as a violation of children’s rights to a safe, supportive, and violence-free environment.

“Fiji has also ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which places a legal obligation on the State for the protection of children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury, or abuse as well.”

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