The directors, at a review and stakeholders meeting organised by Pencils of Promise, an international education non-profit organisation, expressed worry about the continuous use of corporal punishment in schools.

They said the practice was affecting the psychological, social, emotional and academic development of pupils and said it was time the Service sanctioned headstrong teachers. A resolution passed by the directors stated that the negative effects of corporal and humiliating punishment on the total development of children outweighed the positives and must be discouraged.

The resolution asked that teachers were introduced to and taught alternate forms of positive discipline for use in schools.