Appropriate implementation of the prohibition of corporal punishment in schools in South Africa

Corporal punishment in schools refers to any kind of violent action inflicted on children by teachers or school administrators as punishment for disciplinary purposes. Since its prohibition in 1997, research shows that corporal punishment has still been widely practised in South African schools.

It’s a grave concern in terms of children’s development as it violates children’s human rights to physical integrity and human dignity, as upheld by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), as well as the South African Constitution.