And as you may remember, Minister Faber also announced to the nation that his ministry has received reports that there are teachers still administering corporal punishment.
As he told the nation, his ministry will crack down on those caught doing it. So today, the BNTU told the media that while they don't support breaking the rules, the ban on corporal punishment has create a serious disciplinary vacuum:
Luke Palacio - National President, BNTU
"Remember the BNTU marched in Belmopan for the removal of Corporal Punishment from the Education rules and we did not do so because we wanted to be beating up on anybody's children. As a matter of fact, the 2000 rules - rule 144 clearly indicated/stated that it was only the principal that should have administered corporal punishment but that was not our fight. Our fight was and continues to be and we've said it in every forum that we've had an opportunity, that you're removing corporal punishment and with what are you replacing it? We've asked over and over - let us train our teachers in the alternative forms of discipline and we got responses that it will be in the new rules, and 'we're working on that' and our teachers are suffering because our children are going to school are going to school and threatening our teachers simply because they know they cannot administer corporal punishment. Let us go on the record today - BNTU has never and will never defend teachers who have decided that despite the removal of corporal punishment from the rules, teachers if you want to disobey the rules then that is your problem. The rules are clear 'do not administer corporal punishment; do not administer anything that may be interpreted as being corporal punishment."
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