Parents of pupils in primary schools often complain to headmasters and headmistresses, of the physical abuses which their children undergo. The plaintiffs do not hesitate in citing a certain law which bans whipping in schools. Indeed, the Cameroonian law bans physical castigation at school; in particular the 4 April 1998 law on guidance for the education in Cameroon. In Article 35, it stipulates that “The physical and moral integrity of the student is guaranteed in the education system. The following acts are therefore forbidden: physical abuses and any other form of violence”.

Augustin Ntchamande, teacher, knows this provision. He however declares in an opinion page published in Ecovox that “the whip has no place in the school. The reality in our schools however forces us to put this point of view into perspective”.

Because to tell the truth, many teachers do not spare any expense on the gas tubes or other thick ropes to be used as teaching aid with stubborn students. “Some pupils only understand whipping”, they judge.

If legal proceedings ensued, there would obviously never be enough lawyers for the pending cases.

M.N.M.