A Sunday Standard article dated 30th October 2023, reported that the Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr. Douglas Letsholathebe is set to table an amendment bill to the Education Act that will ban the use of corporal punishment in Botswana schools. This was revealed at the Ntlo Ya Dikgosi session by the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Mabuse Pule, who stood in for Letsholathebe.
- . Corporal punishment violates several international and regional human rights treaties, customary international law prohibiting torture and recognizing a fundamental right to respect for human dignity.
- The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights expressly condemn all forms of corporal punishment.
- BONELA stands in full support and welcomes the amendment Bill to ban corporal punishment in schools as it violates various children’s rights such as the right to dignity and bodily integrity; right to development; right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; right to be protected from violence and abuse.
For more information, contact BONELA on: Katlego Sechele at ksechele@bonela.org or 72282025
Cindy Kelemi at cindyk@bonela.org or 72385054