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Effects of Corporal Punishment on Girl’s Enrolment and Retention in the Techiman Municipality

Asonaba Kofi Addison

Department of Basic Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

Abstract: School corporal punishment is administered within schools, when pupils’/students are punished by teachers or school administrators for going against rules and regulations. The goal of punishment in the schools is to decrease the behaviour that it follows. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of corporal punishment on girls’ enrolment and retention in schools in the Techiman Municipality using six selected schools in the municipality which is located in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. Descriptive survey research design which falls under quantitative research design was used with a sample size of 120 junior high school pupils selected from six (6) public schools. Questionnaire was the main instrument used in this study. The findings revealed that corporal punishment had both positive and negative effects on students. The findings also indicated that physical punishment made some students stop school, therefore, it was inferred that corporal punishment affect girls’ enrolment and retention in schools. It is thus recommended that the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the Techiman Municipality organises or conduct awareness workshops and seminars about the effects of corporal punishment on learners for both students and teachers.

Keywords: corporal punishment, retention, enrolment, girl-child, education

Citation: Asonaba Kofi Addison, Effects of Corporal Punishment on Girl’s Enrolment and Retention in the Techiman Municipality. American Journal of Educational Research, 3 (11). 1455-1468. January 2015. doi:10.12691/education-3-11-17

1. Introduction

1.1. Background of the Study

Education is believed to be a tool which drives every nation to social and economic transformation because it brings about progress and development. Also, education equips its product with knowledge, attitude, skills, competencies, technical and vocational expertises to enable them contribute to national economic development. According to Mankoe, one crucial function which education performs is to solve societal problems such as illiteracy, poverty, ignorance, unemployment, inequality, diseases and squalor. To achieve this, a nation that has half of its population to be women should consider women education as a panacea for the nation’s development. This is given to by the popular saying of Dr. Aggrery, ‘when you educate woman you educate the whole nation but if you educate a man you educate a single person’. Many activities that go on in a female’s life revolve around education. At puberty, every female needs to maintain good personal hygiene especially during menstruation to prevent infections that can affect her normal daily life. The issue of pregnancy, child birth and even raising children are all issues that involve a lot of education. Females are also involved in daily activities such as cooking, cleaning, farming and many other activities. The role of women in politics and in public offices is one of the current burning governance issues because of the perceived and acknowledged potential and contribution of women to governance processes. Participating effectively and meaningfully in order to have an impact is a process of empowerment that enhances the self worth of individuals and groups. There is sufficiently reasonable evidence supporting the assertion that women have potentials, which can be tapped to meaningfully enhance social, economic and political development of nations. This awareness has led to efforts by governments complemented by civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), multilateral institutions and individuals at the micro and macro levels to actualize these potentials by encouraging girls’ education. But the situation is even worse as more females are likely to drop out of school before they complete their basic education in Ghana [7]. As women form the greatest percentage of Ghana’s population, it is a necessity for every woman to acquire the knowledge and the skills so as to meet everyday life activities. As Kiragu, Warrington and Githitho-Murithi [48] have reported, girls’ full participation in education is limited by personal ‘unfreedoms’ related to their gender. Contribution of Foster, suggests that creating a flexible environment, gender role models, self efficacy and socialization are important factors that pull girls into the education. Despite the tremendous gains that girls and women have made in education globally over the past years, progress has been uneven, in terms of disciplines and educational levels remain overwhelmingly male even though, the number of women in schools is growing [9]. According to Ratnawati et al. [53] a number of factors have been identified militating against education for girls. Some of these factors are: early marriage of girls, societal beliefs, cultural influences, religious inclinations, illiteracy, poverty level and school factors such as unfriendly school climate as revealed in their study conducted in Northern Nigeria. Among the school factors relevant to our study is the use of corporal punishment in school. According to the Ghana Education Service, Girls’ Education Unit [31] report, while girls’ enrolments at the basic level have increased, retention, completion, and quality remain problematic. Factors militating against girls’ education have been grouped into three according Ghana Education Service, Girl Education Unit 2004 report. These are barriers to access; barriers to retention and barriers to achievement which include low self-esteem [31], gender biases in classroom practices [100], minimal guidance and counselling services, corporal punishments, teasing and sexual harassment. Although enrolment is growing at every level of education, the proportional representation of females is not increasing. There is great variance across the country in female enrolments [35]. The contributions of women in the development of any nation are very obvious. These contributions begin from the family, which is the nucleus of the society. Hence, there is need to give them all the needed and necessary attention for their empowerment so that they will make positive contributions in the development of Ghana in this democratic dispensation. This can be achieved through education which is regarded as the major instrument in the development of human resources of any nation of which the girl-child is a part. The education of the girl-child is the empowerment of the woman of tomorrow [71]. In view of the importance of the primary education to the girl-child in particular and the nation in general, all stake-holders in the education sector will have to do more to eliminate factors militating against the girl-child education. In addition to the challenges within their home and community contexts which militate against girls attending school, were some instances of occurrences at school that challenged their determination to continue with their education. , Many girls developed negative attitudes towards school because of corporal punishment, which took place in most of the cases in schools. For examples, some children were beaten for being late for school, for not finishing their homework, for playing roughly in the playground. Sexual overtures from teachers and boys also spelt awkwardness for the girls. It is for these reasons that the researcher decided to investigate the effects of corporal punishment on girls’ enrolment and retention in the Techiman Municipality in the Brong Ahafo Region.

1.2. The Problem

The education sector of the Techiman Municipality since the start of the education reforms has been driven by several objectives including closing the gender gap in access to education which is also identical to the Millennium Development Goals. The enrolments in schools have witnessed significant growth since 2003. The introduction of the capitation grant in 2005 and the establishment of school feeding programme by the government have led to tremendous increase in enrolment at all levels of basic education in the public schools especially in the Techiman Township irrespective of gender. However, despite these tremendous efforts to increase enrolment at all levels of basic education to close the gender gap in schools, the Techiman Municipality is still witnessing high enrolment rate but low retention rate among girls at the JHS level. According to the GES Techiman Municipality statistics for 2011/2012 the enrolment for KG was 12507 (6225 boys and 6282 girls), Primary was 31452 (15779 boys and 15673 girls) and JHS was 11980 (6191boys and 5389 girls). In 2013/14 academic year, the enrolment for KG was 7468 (3718 boys and 3750 girls), Primary is 22328 (10962 boys and 11366 girls) and JHS is 9482 (4828boys and 4554 girls). The statistics showed clearly that always there is a decline of girls’ enrolment from KG to JHS. It is against this background that the researcher decided to look at the internal threat in the schools that could lead to the low retention of pupils in school. According to Global report [36] children suffer not only strictly regulated forms of corporal punishment, but are subjected to a wide range of punitive assaults, from pinching and ear pulling to severe beatings. According to the Global Report, Africa is well known of using corporal punishment as disciplinary measure in schools. For instance Botswana uses 92 % beating; Egypt uses 80% physical punishment and Togo uses 88 % physical violence against girls. Even though the report did not capture Ghana’s usage of punishment in schools there is a lot of evidence to suggest the use of corporal punishment in schools. According to Global initiative Report [34] corporal punishment is lawful in schools. Pursuant to the education Act 1961, the Ghana Education Code of Discipline for first and second cycle schools provides for caning up to six strokes by a head teacher or person authorised by the head. Article 13(2) of the Children’s Act also applies. Furthermore, the Ministerial directives advice against the use of corporal punishment in schools but this has not been confirmed by any legislation. Corporal punishment is lawful in alternative care settings under provisions allowing “reasonable” and “justifiable” correction in article 13(2) of the Children’s Act. The effects of punishment range from physical, social, emotional to psychological problems. With the numerous effects of corporal punishment on children in their developmental stages, the researcher believes and agrees with Mansour and Khalil [58] and Shehab [84] that although, it is inferred that corporal punishment is used in schools with the purpose of controlling the students’ behaviour and discipline, it has adverse effect on what it is meant to achieve particularly student’s deferral from school, failure and school dropouts. Again, Moussa and Al Ayesh [63] posit that dismissing students from class and physically punishing them highly raises the percentage of students escaping from school before the school day finishes. All these reasons and many more made the researcher study the effects of corporal punishment on girls’ enrolment and retention in schools in the Techiman Municipality.

The objectives of this study are to:

1. Identify the forms of corporal punishment given to girls in School in the Techiman Municipality

2. Determine the perceived reasons for using corporal punishment on girls in schools in the Techiman Municipality

3. Determine the effects of corporal punishment on girls in schools in the Techiman Municipality

4. Determine the effects of corporal punishment on girls’ enrolment and retention in school in Techiman Municipality.

1.3. Research Questions

1. What are the forms of corporal punishment given to girls in School in the Techiman Municipality?

2. What are the perceived reasons for using corporal punishment on girls in schools in the Techiman Municipality?

3. What are the effects of corporal punishment on girls in schools in the Techiman Municipality?

4. Does effect of corporal punishment affect girls’ enrolment and retention in schools in the Techiman Municipality?

2. Literature

2.1. Importance of Female Education

In the 1990's girls' education became recognised as the single most effective development investment for reducing poverty by ensuring that women were able to improve the lives of their families and the next generation of children; indeed, all agree that the single most important key to development and poverty alleviation is education, which must start with universal primary education for girls and boys equally [98].

Educating girls is viewed as a “strategic investment” for the individual, the family, the local community and the whole nation, greatly improving the nation's development indicators by providing numerous beneficial outcomes. As women forming the greatest percentage of Ghana’s population, it is therefore a necessity for every woman to acquire the knowledge and the skills so as to meet everyday life activities. No wonder in 2010, during online discussion organised by IFUW on gender science and technology about the promotion of a successful careers for women and girls in the science and technology fields, the following issues were discussed as to which reasons best explain why it is important for girls and women to be educated:

It will lead to better-paid employment outcomes increase women’s financial independence and security. Knowledge is essential to understanding the modern world and without it, it is impossible for women to participate in informed decision-making on many social and political issues .Girls with natural talents for, and interest in, have a right to an education that enables full development of those natural talents and interest. Our societies are dominated and even determined by ideas and products from education and it is very likely that the influence of education on our lives will continue to increase in the years to come [23].

2.2. Concept of Punishment

Punishment is a term used in operant conditioning to refer to any change that occurs after a behaviour that reduces the likelihood that behaviour will occur again in the future. While positive and negative reinforcement are used to increase behaviours, punishment is focused on reducing or eliminating unwanted behaviours [52]. According to Acton [1] punishment also implies law-making, penalisation, finding guilty, pronouncing a sentence. In this case, it serve as a method use in reducing the incidence of one’s behaviour either by deterring the potential offenders or by incapacitating and preventing them from repeating the offence of by reforming them into law-abiding student. In educational system, research indicates that punishment may be perpetrated by teachers, other staff and school mates on children through corporal punishment and other forms of punishment [21,50,51,94]. The goal of punishment in schools is to decrease the behaviour that it follows. Punishment is only a method of disciplining and in schools corporal punishment is only one aspect mostly used [81]. Corporal punishment is the use of physical force causing pain, but not wounds, as a means of disciplining students in schools [52]. Spanking, rapping on the head and slapping are forms of corporal punishment which are normally used in schools. The use of corporal punishment is strongly rooted in our society and is passed on through generations, however, this doesn't mean that corporal punishment is justified. Corporal Punishment according to NASN [66] is causing physical pain deliberately to change behaviour that could be in the form of hitting, slapping, spanking, punching and pinching using objects such as sticks, belts, and paddles. Scarre [82] also defines the word "corporal" to refer to any punishment applied on body including assault or any means that are meant to cause physical pain or humiliation. The legitimacy of corporal punishment is still a contentious issue to many societies including Ghana. From pedagogical perspective, Ritchie [77] claimed that corporal punishment is an assault on the dignity of individual and offensive act against the dignity of the teaching profession. Further, McGrath [60] proposed that corporal punishment reflects a failure on the part of the teachers.

Punishing means subjecting a penalty for an offense and usually includes inflicting some kind of hurt; in this regard, to Thomas and Peterson, a practice of disciplining in which, something unpleasant is present or positive reinforces are removed following behaviour so that it happens less often in future. In general, these definitions seek to point out that corporal punishment is the use of physical force against an individual. All these harsh disciplinary measures adopted by authoritarian/totalitarian parents and teachers to discipline children lead to anti-social behaviour, contribute to academic failure and social rejection. These conditions further reduce self-esteem and create depressed mood, which in turn add to the likelihood of delinquency in adolescents [74]. Punishment against students especially girls have been widely documented and sadly it occurs in places where they should be the most protected, that is, in their homes, foster institutions and schools [94]. However, we don't want to lay blame; rather we want to bring about constructive change. Many people have been submitted to corporal punishment without being traumatized by it, however, the risk of its causing emotional harm to children especially girls in school requires us, as a society, to seek alternatives.

2.3. Forms of Punishment in School

One of the best-known examples of positive punishment is spanking. Defined as striking a child across the buttocks with an open hand, this form of discipline is reportedly used by approximately 75 percent of parents and teachers [81] especially in most African countries. Some researchers have suggested that mild, occasional spanking is not harmful, especially when used in conjunction with other forms of discipline. However, in one large meta-analysis of previous research, psychologist Gershoff [30] found that spanking was associated poor parent-child relationships as well as with increases in antisocial behaviour, delinquency and aggressiveness. More recent studies that controlled for a variety of confounding variables also found similar results.

Negative Punishment: This type of punishment is also known as "punishment by removal." Negative punishment involves taking away a desirable stimulus after behaviour as occurred. For example, when the student from the previous example talks out of turn again, the teacher promptly tells the child that he will have to miss recess because of his behaviour.

In another perspective, Naz, Khan, Daraz, Hussain and Qaisar [68] also group punishment in school into two mainstreams; mild punishment and severe punishment. They describe mild punishment as been as hitting or slapping students with a bare hand, hitting or slapping with hand, arm or leg, spanking and shaking, pushing and pulling. On the contrary, severe punishment is understood as hitting or slapping students on head, beating the buttocks with stick, hitting or slapping students on the face, pulling ears and hairs, and making the students sit-stand etc.

In keeping with the provisions of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights [69] corporal Punishment in Schools could be classified as physical punishment, mental harassment and discrimination.

Physical punishment is understood as any action that causes pain, hurt/injury and discomfort to a child, however light. Examples of physical punishment include but are not restricted to the following: Causing physical harm to children by hitting, kicking, scratching, pinching, biting, pulling the hair, boxing ears, smacking, slapping, spanking or with any implement (cane, stick, shoe, chalk, dusters, belt, whip, giving electric shock etc.); Making children assume an uncomfortable position (standing on bench, standing against the wall in a chair-like position, standing with schoolbag on head, holding ears through legs, kneeling etc.); Forced ingestion of anything (for example: washing soap, mud, chalk, hot spices etc.); and detention in the classroom, library, toilet or any closed space in the school.

According to National Commission for Protection of Child Rights [69] mental harassment is understood as any non-physical treatment that is detrimental to the academic and psychological well-being of a child. It includes but is not restricted to the following: Sarcasm that hurts or lowers the child’s dignity; Calling names and scolding using humiliating adjectives, intimidation; Using derogatory remarks for the child, including pinning of slogans; Ridiculing the child with regard to her background or status or parental occupation or caste; Ridiculing the child with regard to her health status or that of the family – especially HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis; Belittling a child in the classroom due to his/her inability to meet the teacher’s expectations of academic achievement; Punishing or disciplining a child not recognising that most children who perform poorly in academics are actually children with special needs. Such children could have conditions like learning disability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mild developmental delay etc. Using punitive measures to correct a child and even labelling him/her as difficult; such as a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who may not only fare poorly in academics, but also pose a problem in management of classroom behaviours; Shaming’ the child to motivate the child to improve his performance. According to Alhassan [4] school corporal punishment is administered within schools, when pupils’/students are punished by teachers or school administrators for wrong done against rules and regulations or, in the past, apprentices by master craftsmen. He conceived that corporal punishment comes in the form of canning, using hands in beating the student, denying them from break and making them kneeling down in front of the classroom. All of these types of punishment in some way affect many of our girl-child and are often interrelated. For instance, bullying and intimidating can be either overt or covert. According to Shariff [83], overt bullying involves physical aggression such as beating, kicking, shoving, and sexual touching which could be accompanied by covert bullying, in which victims are excluded from peer groups, stalked, stared at, gossiped about, verbally threatened or harassed. Covert bullying can also be random or discriminatory, racial, sexual, homophobic or based on social class, abilities or disabilities ([83] p. 224). According to Du Plessis [32], it is important to distinguish between the different kinds of punishment as it can easily be perceived as a single or general problem in society. In light of this, Umezinwa & Elendu [90] listed the following forms as school corporal punishment: Scolding and verbal assault to the pupil, making the pupil to stay back after school the pupil cutting of grasses ,the pupil fetching of water, the pupil scrubbing the floor of the class, the pupil sweeping the whole class ,the pupil washing the whole toilets, sending the pupil out of the class, the pupil kneeling down or standing for a long time, flogging the pupil with stick or cane, giving the pupil knock on the head, slapping or beating the pupil with hands, kicking and pushing the pupil with legs, pulling the pupil’s ear or hair. In a similar research conducted by Kimani, Kara and Ogetange [48] in primary schools in Kenya. The findings indicated that, the pupils reported canning (96%), slapping (91.2%), kneeling down (90%), pinching (78%), and pulling hair/ears (71.6%) and forced manual work (70.8%) as the most prevalent forms of corporal punishment used at school. Kicking (36.8%), being shaken or being thrown around (39.6%) and standing in the sun for long periods (42%) were the various forms of corporal punishment used in schools.

Brenner [12] revealed how the issue of sexual violence is raised: talks of girls trying to get too close to male teachers. Anderson-Levitt et al. [5] mention a tiny minority of male teachers pressurising girls for sexual favours and of boys teasing girls who have rejected their sexual advances. The issue is swept under the carpet by administrators. This could be the reason why there are high levels of pregnancy rates and low retention among girls in the higher level of education but very few make the link with sexual harassment and coercive or transactional sex. It would appear that certain sexual harassment and sexual assault related girl-child in school asking for a date, insulting with sexual language, touching breast without consent.

2.4. Reasons for using Corporal punishment in schools

As for school corporal punishment, it is believed that this kind of punishment could immediately deter students’ from wrong behaviours and help them learn better [22]. According to Du Plessis [22] reasons of given punishment in schools could be classified into two; teacher-based reasons and pupils’-based reasons which are relevant to our study. All of these reasons in some way affect many of our girl-child and are often interrelated As an old saying goes, “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” Corporal punishment was viewed as an efficient way to teach student correct behaviours and to make them study harder. From research as well as newspaper articles, it is evident that corporal punishment is still viewed by some as having a place in education [86]. Many teachers feel that without corporal punishment classrooms are out of control. Furthermore, they feel that they are not equipped with alternatives to effectively deal with classroom management, nor do they feel supported by relevant education departments. On a global level, research findings reveal that teachers who received corporal punishment are highly likely to use it and approve of its use [40]. Traditionally, parents who think of corporal punishment as being the only tool for discipline are not expected to object to teachers beating their children at school [40]. Some of the reasons that feed corporal punishment in schools could be either family-based or school-based. To start with the family-based factors, Zayed [101] proposes that families use punishment as the only method of reforming children's behaviour and raising them up. Another factor that clusters under the umbrella of school is the teacher. It is evident that some teachers are not qualified enough to discipline students by any means other than corporal punishment [63]. This could be traced to the fact that corporal punishment is thought of as being the only way to maintain teachers' respect [80]. Traditionally, teachers use it for being the most common tool to control the class because they are not trained on any other techniques during the university time or later in the school, or they use corporal punishment for other reasons such as forcing students to take pay school fees and extra classes. Research has been done into the use of corporal punishment in schools. However within the African context limited research such as that of Morell [65], and Roos [79] amongst others attempt to provide explanations of why the shift away from corporal punishment has been difficult for teachers.

Gale et al [27] warn that intimidation and bullying could cause psychological harm, to not only the victims but also bystanders. In addition to the psychological harm caused through violence or situations in which there is a threat of violence, developmental harm may also occur in the form of anxiety about the threats of the likely harm. When this happens anxiety of this sort can disrupt the educational process.

Developmental harm has been defined as harm that occurs due to events or conditions that prevent or inhibit girls from achieving their maximum physical, social or academic potential Gale et al, ([27], p. 13). People who are perpetrators of punishment on the girl child will definitely be people who know them. Brenner [12] revealed how the issue of sexual violence is raised: talks of girls trying to get too close to male teachers. Anderson-Levitt et al. [5] mention a tiny minority of male teachers pressurising girls for sexual favours and of boys teasing girls who have rejected their sexual advances. The issue is swept under the carpet by administrators. This could be the reason why there are high levels of pregnancy rates and low retention among girls in the higher level of education but very few make the link with sexual harassment and coercive or transactional sex. It would appear that certain sexual harassment and sexual assault related girl-child in school asking for a date, insulting with sexual language, touching breast without consent. According to the 2007 UNICEF study, nearly 60% of all parents in Jordan believe that corporal punishment is “an effective child-rearing method” in the home, and a similar percentage believe that corporal punishment should also be used in the schools [24].

Moreover, the majority of Jordanian parents believe that hitting children in the home or in school is justifiable when a child disobeys a task, breaks a rule, fights with another child, or performs poorly on his or academics [24]. Furthermore, Lwo and Yuan [55] point out, arguments for the positive effects of corporal punishment continue to be made today; a major argument is that corporal punishment improves children’s classroom behaviour because it is “a very clear, specific, and obvious consequence.

2.5. Effects of Corporal Punishment on Girl-child Education

It is now globally recognised that corporal punishment in any form or kind in school comes in the way of the development of the full potential of children (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights [69]). It could be inferred that although corporal punishment is used in schools with the purpose of controlling the students' behaviour and discipline, data above prove that it produces an adverse effect of what it is meant to achieve particularly student’s deferral from school and failure [84], school dropouts [58], and damage to school assets [63]. Moreover, both dismissing student from class and physically punishing them highly raises the percentage of students escaping from school before the school day finishes [96]. It should be noted that corporal punishment in schools is interrelated with many other social problems that are not our main concern in this research. For example, corporal punishment in schools has a direct relation in increasing the number of street children [95]. The most important effect of corporal punishment which concerns our study is its minimisation girl’s retention in school which is the second major reason after poverty that augments child labour [47]. Far from physical and social damages, corporal punishment causes psychological damages that are reflected obviously on girl-child’s self-esteem and self-confidence, and having other negative long-term personality effects [93]. The more girl-child is hit, the more is the anger she report as adults and consequently the more she hit her own children when she becomes parent, and the more likely she is to approve of hitting. Corporal punishment leads to adverse psychological and educational outcomes – including increased aggressive and destructive behaviour, increased disruptive behaviour in the classroom, vandalism, poor school achievement, poor attention span, increased drop-out rate, school avoidance and school phobia, low self-esteem, anxiety, somatic complaints, depression, suicide and retaliation against teachers – that emotionally scar the children for life.

Researchers opposed to corporal punishment view the harmful effects and the lasting psychological threat on the girl childhood but often well into her adulthood. Corporal punishment according to Hyman and Perone [45] not only does it leads to physical injuries, like bruising and swelling to signs and symptoms of depression but it can cause serious emotional harm as stated earlier. Furthermore the use of punishment in one context is often repeated later in other contexts [65,79]. Additionally, there is no clear evidence that corporal punishment will (a) lead to better control in the classroom, (b) enhance moral character development in children, or (c) increase the students’ respect for teachers or other authority figures [85].

Setting

Techiman is a town and is the capital of the Techiman Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region in South Ghana. Techiman is a leading market town in South Ghana. Techiman has a settlement population of 104,212 people in 2013. Techiman is located at a historical crossroads of trade routes and the Tano River, and serves as capital of the Techiman Municipality. The education sector since the start of the education reforms has been driven by several objectives including those aimed at closing the gender gap in access to education as well as improving the quality of education. There was also a commitment to providing free quality education at the basic level to all children of school going age by the year 2005. These goals and objectives are identical to the Millennium Development Goals. According to GES Techiman Municipal 2013/2014 statistics, the Municipality is endowed with 89 KG with an enrolment of 7468 (3718 boys and 3750 girls); 90 primary schools with enrolment of 22,328 pupils and 52 Junior High Schools (JHS) with 9482 pupils. Enrolments in schools have witnessed significant growth since 2003. The rapid growth rates in enrolment over the years have resulted in a significant deficit in school infrastructure namely classrooms, workshops and furniture. The introduction of the capitation grant in 2005 especially has led to tremendous increase in enrolment at all levels of basic education in the public schools. The resultant effect is an increase of pupils at KG, primary and junior high levels. The pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) of all levels shows that there are enough teachers in the Municipality. However, there is uneven distribution of teachers in the Municipality in favour of the urban areas. Other problems confronting the education sector in Techiman Municipality include poor water and sanitation facilities especially at the basic levels. Many schools lack potable water and gender friendly sanitary facilities. Poor sanitation facilities and public hygiene may result in poor health status. This may lead to high rate of absenteeism due to ill-health and high drop-out rate. Techiman Municipality was chosen as the setting for this study because of the low retention rate of girls at JHS level. (Source: GES. Techiman Municipal Statistic, 2013/2014).

2.6. Population

All students in the 52 Public Junior high schools students in the Techiman Municipality became the target population for this study. The accessible population was all the students of the 21 junior high schools in the Techiman Township. The sample of this study was made up of 120 junior high school pupils selected from six (6) public schools in the Techiman Township.

2.7. Sample and Sampling technique

The study took 120 junior high school girls selected from six public junior high schools in the Techiman Township as the sample. The Municipality was conveniently selected because of its proximity to the researcher and its application of corporal punishment in the schools as well as its low retention rate of girls at the JHS level. The six schools were selected purposely because of their application of the corporal punishment. The Six schools are among the few others that are noted for their reliance on corporal punishment as a means of instilling discipline in their students. Each school was given a quota of 20 girls. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the 120 students from the six schools.

Table 1. Schools selected for the study

2.8. Instrument

A questionnaire on corporal punishment designed by Nevine Henry Wasef in 2011 was adopted and modified by the researcher was used to collect information on forms of punishment, reasons for using corporal punishment and the effect of corporal punishment on girls. The questionnaire consists of four sections A, B C and D.

2.9. Data Collection Procedure

Permission was obtained from the District Director of Education, Techiman Municipality to carry out the study. Data were collected in the two phases. The first phase which lasted for two weeks was used to administer the questionnaire. The researcher administered the questionnaire personally to all respondents. The second phase of data collection involved compilation of schools under study’s enrolment from the first to the third year. The instrument was strictly employed to study the retention rate of girls in each school and to verify the already gathered information through the questionnaire.

2.10. Analysis of Data

The quantitative data were largely analysed by the use of tables, percentages, means, standard deviations and graphs. The respondents’ responses from the questionnaire were coded as 1 and 2 for yes and no responses and 1 to 5 according to occurrences or the beliefs of the statement.

3. Results

3.1. The Students’ Background Experience of Corporal Punishment in Their School Stages

The study sample consisted of 120 Junior High School girls selected from six junior high schools in Techiman Township. Students’ ages ranged from 14 to 24 with that 30.8 % (37) student represented age between10 to 15 years, 65 % (78) students represented 16 t6o 20 years and 4.2 % (5) represented above 20 years. This gave pupils’ average age to be17 years. Finding out whether in any of your school stages, teachers use corporal punishment to reform students’ behaviour, 85.8 % (103) responded ‘Yes’ whereas 14.2% (17) responded ‘No’. In determining their educational stage where students were beaten least frequently was, 75.8 % (91) believed to be KG, 8.3% (10 ) believed to be at the Primary stage and 15.8%(19) confirmed to be at their JHS stage. Concerning the educational stage where students were beaten most frequently, the data revealed 9.2% (11) for KG, 10.8% (13) for primary and 80 % (96) for JHS. The data also revealed that 55 % (66) of the girls only cry when they were beating in school. When asked whether they inform their parents when beating, 60.8% (78) girls do not inform their parents, 29.2 % (35) sometimes informed their parents while only 10% (12) often informed their parents.

Finding out whether the school head ever physically punish a student, 20 %( 24) responded ‘Yes, 1-3 times per month’, 56.7% (68) responded ‘Yes, 1-3 times per week’, 10 % (12) responded ‘Yes, almost daily’, 1.7% (2) responded that they had never punished a student and 11.7 % (14) said they do not know. ...

Research Question 1: What are the forms of corporal punishment given to girls in Schools in the Techiman Municipality?

The research question sought to determine the forms of corporal punishment given to girls in School in Techiman Municipality. Nine items were administered to pupils to determine the kinds of corporal punishments and how often they were given to girls in schools. A total of five-points Likert Scale, equivalent to five correct responses, in order as 1- Very Often, 2 – Often, 3- sometimes, 4- Rarely and 5- Never, were allocated to each item of the 12 items at section B (Appendix A). After the analysis, ‘Very Often’, ‘Often’ and ‘Sometimes’ were classified as ‘frequently used’ while ‘Rarely’ and ‘Never’ were also classified as ‘not frequently used’

The data were analysed using the responses of the participants to the individual items in the questionnaire. The data is presented in the following Table 2.

Table 2. Percentage Frequency Distribution of the Forms of Corporal Punishment Given to Girls

From Table 2, it was clear that all the 12 forms of the punishments were practice in schools. More than 50 % of the students revealed that 6 items (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9) were the most frequently used corporal punishment in the schools. Majority of the respondents 91% (110) confirmed that item 4(Caning on students) was the highest form of corporal punishment given to the girls followed by Item 1(Dismissal from class) which 70 % (84) of the students confirmed it’s frequently used in the schools. Again, item 9 (Kneeling down in classroom or in school compound) was the third most frequently form of punishment used in the schools. Surprisingly, item 2 (Verbal assault and yelling) recorded 66.7% (80). More the 60% of the students reported that item 6 (Weeding) and 7(Making the student stand or raise their hands for a long time) were among the most frequently used form of punishment in the school. On the other hand, six (6) items (3, 5, 8, 10, 11, and 12) were least voted for it usage in the schools. Among the 6 items, three items, 12, 10 and 3 were the least frequently form of punishment used (Table 2). Item 12 (Sexually harassed by teachers) and item 10 (Denying you from enjoying break, using table, chair, textbook or other learning materials) were the least form of punishment frequently used in the schools. Analysis of the findings revealed that even though majority did not indicated item 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, and 12 as frequently used form of corporal punishment in the schools, yet their usage were firmed (Table 2).

Therefore from Table 2, conclusion was made that even though all the 12 forms of corporal punishment were practiced in the schools but canning, kneeling down, dismissal from class, verbal assault, weeding and making student stand for the long time were the most form of corporal punishment practiced in the schools.

These current findings from the study confirmed with Alhassan [4] that corporal punishment in school comes in different forms. During the review literature, scholars such as Shariff [83]; Du Plessis [22] and Umezinwa & Elendu [90] have classified corporal punishment into different kinds. This current study found 12 forms of corporal punishment practiced in the schools but canning, kneeling down, dismissal from class, verbal assault, weeding and making student stand for the long time were the most form of corporal punishment practiced in the schools. This finding indicated that school corporal punishment comes in both positive and negative forms which affirmed B. F. Skinner classification of punishment, even though this study found out that positive punishment were frequently used in the schools. These findings, such as verbal assault, canning, kneeling down, confirmed the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights [69] classification of corporal punishment as physical harassment, mental harassment and sexual harassment. On the contrary, the findings did not capture any discrimination as a form of corporal punishment indicated by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights [69]. Regarding the kinds corporal punishment administered in schools, the findings agreed with Umezinwa and Elendu [90] that school corporal punishment are in different forms such scolding and verbal assault to the pupil, making the pupil to stay back after school, weeding, fetching of water sweeping the whole class (Chp. 2, p 19). This finding has shown and confirmed what Global report [36] reported that children suffer not only strictly regulated forms of corporal punishment, but are subjected to a wide range of punitive assaults, from pinching and ear pulling to severe beatings. The indication of these findings is a clear manifestation that corporal punishment still exist in some Ghanaian schools.

3.2. The Perceive Reasons for Using Corporal Punishment in Schools

Research Question 2: What are the perceive reasons for using corporal punishment on girls in schools in Techiman Municipality?

The research question two sought to ascertain the perceive reasons for using corporal punishment on girls in schools. ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ questionnaire consisting of 10 items were used to collect information from the girls about their perceived reason for using corporal punishment in schools. The data gathered were analysed through descriptive statistics (SPSS 17) to determine the percentage scores of the respondents. The results of the analysis are presented in Table 3.

Table 3. The Perceived Reason for Using Corporal Punishment in Schools

As for school corporal punishment, it is generally perceived that corporal punishment could immediately deter students’ from wrong behaviours and help them learn better [22]. Table 4 provides the summary of the reasons why teacher administer corporal punishment on the girl in the schools. As many as 66.7(80) rated item 7 (Not doing homework) as the first reason for teachers to use corporal punishment in schools. Surprisingly, item 6 (obtaining low grades in exams) was the 2nd (61.7) rated reason for using punishment in the schools. Item 10 (Talking behind the teacher’s back) was the 3rd rated reason from the respondents (59.2%; 71). Item 9 and 1 were also considered as a possible cause since from the Table 4, 56.7% (68) and 55 % (66) respondents rated item 9 (forgetting books or any of the materials) and item 1 (fighting with other children) as the 4th and 5th reasons respectively.

From Table 4, 3 items (4, 2 and 8) were not considered as major reasons since less than 50% of the respondents rated them as the causes. For instance, 40 % (48) of the respondents considered item 4(Challenging the teacher) as a cause. The least rated cause was item 8, which only 26.7% (32) of the respondents considered it. There were difficult to draw conclusion on two of the items (3 and 5) since 50% of the respondents rated it as a cause while 50% also rated as not a cause.

From Table 4, conclusion was made that not doing homework, obtaining low grades in exams, talking behind the teacher’s back, forgetting books or any of the class materials and fighting with other children. Others were refusing to obey school orders, escaping from school before the day ends, challenging the teacher, scratching on the walls and giving wrong answer to a question. This current findings support Elayyan [24] assertion that the used of corporal punishment in schools is justifiable when a child disobeys a task, breaks a rule, fights with another child, or performs poorly on his or academics.

3.3. Effects of corporal punishment on girls

Research Question 3: What are the effects of corporal punishment on girls in schools in the Techiman Municipality

The research question three sought to identify the effects of corporal punishment on girls in school. A 5 point-Likert scale questionnaire consisting of 13 items rating was used to collect information on the effects of corporal punishment on girls. The 13 items were scored in that order as strongly agree - 5, Agree - 4, Not decided -3, Disagreed -2 and Strongly Disagree-1 (Table 5). The data gathered were analysed through descriptive statistics (SPSS 17) to determine the percentage distribution frequency, mean scores and the standard deviation of the responses. During the analysis, an item with a mean score below 3 was considered as not having major effect on the respondents. On the other hand, an item with a mean score above 3 was considered as having effect on the respondents. The results of the analysis are presented in Table 4 on the next page.

From Table 4, a total of 120 girls gave responses to 13 items of the questionnaire. Only 4 items (shaded) had effects on the respondents. Two of the items (1 and 2) showed positive effects on the respondents. Item 2 (Physical punishment corrected my behaviour in class) recorded the highest mean score of 3.900 with standard deviation of 1.048. Item 1(physical punishment helped me perform better in class) also recorded a mean score of 3.769 with standard deviation 1.157 to indicate its effect on the respondents.

On the contrary, 2 items (10 and 13) indicated negative effects on the girls. Item 10 (Physical punishment leave scar on your body) recorded negative effect on the girls with a mean score of 3.733 and standard deviation 1.314 while item 13 (Physical punishment allows some students to stop school) recorded a mean score of 4.058 with standard deviation of .8821. The other 6 items (3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9) recorded below the average mean score 3 (Table 4). Item 8 (Physical punishment made get medical treatment) recorded the lowest mean score, 1.930 with standard deviation 1.0980. From the Table 4 item 7 (Physical punishment made me sad in school) recorded a mean score 3.067 and standard deviation 1.2349 to indicate it neutrality but that also gave an indication that half of the respondents were not happy about the use of corporal punishment in schools. From the Table 4, the findings revealed that physical punishment helped the students to perform better in class, it also corrected their behaviour, however, it leaves scar on their body and its allows some students to stop school.

Table 4. Percentage and Frequency Distribution of Responses Mean Scores And Standard Deviation for the Effects of Corporal Punishment

Globally, it is recognised that effects of corporal punishment comes in different forms or kinds in schools, in the way of the development of the full potential of children [69]. Corporal punishment is used in schools with the purpose of controlling the students' behaviour and maintaining discipline, but review literature above prove that it produces an adverse effect of what it is meant to achieve [84]. During the review many researchers had indicated that corporal punishment had negative effects on students’ personal development and academic achievement [58,63,69]. The findings from this current study revealed that it leaves scar on their body which concurred with NCPCR [69] and Mansour & Khalil [58] that corporal punishment has physical effect on the students. Again, the findings also supported Mallot, Mallot and Trojan [56] assertion that corporal punishment lead to school drop-out.

However, the findings also revealed the positive effect of the use of corporal punishment in schools. It was indicated that physical punishment helped the students to perform better in class and it also corrected their behaviour (Table 4) which was in conformity with what Alhassan [4]; Lwo and Yuan [55] and findings of Campaign for Female Education [33]. Indeed, it has established that corporal punishment has both positive and negative effects but the high risk of corporal punishment for girl-child in school is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Such risks are directly related to girls’ poor academic performance, high absenteeism, leaving school early and [94]. Resultant feelings of alienation and the risk of absenteeism or drop-out are often exacerbated by the corporal punishment given to girls [78].

3.4. Corporal Punishment Its Effects Girls’ Enrolment and Retention in School

Research Question 4: Does corporal punishment affect girls’ enrolment and retention in schools in the Techiman Municipality?

The research question sought to determine whether the corporal punishment used in the schools affect girls’ enrolment and retention. In answering this question, responses from 20 final year girls selected in each school about experience on corporal punishment were analysed with their enrolment and their retention rate from the admission year to their current year (final year). From section A of the questionnaire, items 1 to 4 were used to determine the state of the use of corporal punishment for the individual schools. The respondents’ responses were aligned with their past three year’s enrolment. From the Table 5 the year 3 CR represents the current enrolment of the students and the year 3 RS represent the number of students in year 1 and has been retained in the school till the third year. The retention rate was calculated based on the number of students at the year 3 RS over the number of students in year 1 multiplied by the 100.

Table 5. The summary of respondents’ three years enrolment and their experience on corporal punishment

From Table 5, 90 % (18) of the girls in SP School indicated that KG was their educational stage where they were least beaten but the same number 90% (18) reported that JHS was their educational stage where they were most frequently beaten. Concerning their enrolment, the school admitted 42 girls for the first year (year 1), during the second year (year 2) the enrolment has reduced to 37. On the third year (year 3CE) their number has reduced to 30 and even with number 30, 28 of them were those who had been enrolled in the first year and has retained in the third year. This decrease of enrolment gave the retention rate of 66.67%.

From Table 5, 100 % (20) of the girls in SF school indicated that KG was their educational stage where they were least frequently beaten but on the other hand, 90 % (18) indicated that JHS was where they have received most beatings. Again, 60 % (12) reported that corporal punishment 1-3 times per week. Regarding their enrolment, the school admitted 52 girls in their first year (year 1), in the second year (year 2) their number has reduced to 48 while in the third, the number of girls increased to 50 with 48 of the girls retained. This gave the retention rate to be 92.31%.

In TIJ school, it was indicated from Table 5 that 90.0 % (18) of the girls reported that KG was their educational stage where they were least beaten while 85.0 % (17) reported that JHS was where they were most frequently beaten and this stage 35 % (7 ) confirmed that they were almost beaten daily. From Table 5, TIJ School admitted 30 girls in 2012 academic year (year 1), in 2013 their number has reduced to 26 (year 2) and in 2014 (year 3) their number has increased to 29 but out this number, 24 were those who had being in the school for the whole three years. This gave the retention rate to be 80 %.

Form Table 5, 75 % (15) of the girls from GKJ school reported that they were least beaten in KG but 85.0 % (17) reported that their JHS stage was where they had frequently received corporal punishment. GKJ school Admitted 18 girls in the 2012 academic year. Their number increased to 19 in the year 2013 (year 2) while in 2014 (year 3) the number increased to 30, out of this number, 15 of the girls were those who had being in the school for the whole three years. Therefore, retention rate was found to be 83.33%.

At ALK school, 85.0 % (17) disclosed that they were least beaten during their KG stage and 70.0% (14) also indicated that their JHS stage was where they had received most corporal punishment. The School admitted 22 girls in 2012 (year 1). This number increased to 31 in 2013 (year 2) and the number dropped to 28 in 2014 (year 3). Even that, 19 of the girls were those who had being in the school for the whole three years. This gave the retention rate to be 86.36%.

From Table 5, 70.0 % (14) of girls in AH school revealed that they were least beaten at the KG level while 70.0 % (14) also revealed that JHS was the stage where they had received most beaten. Surprisingly, 60.0 % (12) reported that they received beaten almost daily. Regarding their enrolment and retention, AH School admitted 35 girls in 2011and this number reduced to 21 in 2013 (year 2) but in 2014 the number increased to 33 with 21who had being in the school for the whole three years. This gave the retention rate to be 60 %.

So from the Table 5, the total enrolment of girls for the six schools in 2012 was 199, 2013 they were 185 and in 2014 (final year) they were 200. For the 200 girls at the final year, 155 girls were those who had being in the school for the whole three years. Therefore the retention rate for the six schools was 77.89 %.

From the Table 2 and Table 5, 80 % (96) of the girls indicated that JHS was the school stage where they were most frequently received beaten. In Table 4, 86.6 % (104) of the girls indicated that physical punishment made some student to stop school (item D12). In a school were almost everybody confirmed corporal punishment was common, one needs not to tell that the learning environment is unfriendly. Therefore, no wonder enrolment as at 2012 stood at 199 and 200 at 2014 but 155 had been retained. From the findings, it was inferred that the reduction of the girls’ enrolment from 200 to 155 could be the cause of physical punishment administered in the schools.

It has reviewed that excessive corporal punishment against girls in school cause psychological emotional, social and physical effects and eventually leads to poor academic performance, truancy, drop-out of the girls in school [51,94]. These suggest to some extent an explanation for why girls’ enrolment decreases from lower primary to higher education levels. Regarding whether corporal punishment has effect on girl’s enrolment and retention in school, the finding from this study indicated that 80 % (96) of the girls indicated that JHS was the school stage where they were most frequently received beaten (Table 2). In the school stage, the JHS stage is where children at the stage have reached adolescence stage. It is during this period that children start experienced a lot of emotional feelings. In this case when children are subjected to a lot of corporal punishment, it put them into mental harassment [21,69]. Again, the findings also revealed that 86.6 % (104) of the girls indicated that physical punishment made some student to stop school (Table 4, item D12). This current finding support the assertion corporal punishment being carried out in schools was to be the major factor leading to truancy, absconding and drop-out and low retention of girls [8,21]. The current findings support Leach et al. [50] by providing ample evidence of corporal punishment in schools perpetrated through acts of physical, symbolic and sexual violence against girls. The findings revealed so far are clear evidence of corporal punishment being carried out in schools and its possible effects on girls. These possibilities suggest some explanations for the girl’s enrolment decrease in the study area. Indeed the high risk of punishment for girl-child in school is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Such risks are directly related to girls’ poor academic performance, high absenteeism, leaving school early and other harmful effects on girls’ health [94], subsequently, girls’ school enrolment, retention, and the quality of education are affected [51].

4. Summary of the findings

The study revealed that:

1. Canning, kneeling down, dismissal from class, verbal assault, weeding and making students stand for a long time were the most forms of corporal punishment practiced in the schools.

2. Not doing homework, obtaining low grades in exams, talking behind the teacher’s back, forgetting books or any of the class materials and fighting with other children. Others were refusing to obey school orders, escaping from school before the day ends, challenging the teacher, scratching on the walls and giving wrong answers to a questions were some of the students’ perceived reasons for administering corporal punishment in schools.

3. Corporal punishment helped the students to perform better in class when the mean score of 3.77 and standard deviation 1.16 was indicated in the findings. Again, it was also found out that corporal punishment corrected students’ behaviour with a highest mean score of 3.900 with standard deviation of 1.048.

4. Corporal punishment leads to school drop-out.

5. The findings revealed so far are clear evidence of corporal punishment being carried out in schools and its possible effects on girls.

6. Corporal punishment had both positive and negative effects on the students.

7. From the findings (Table 5), the total enrolment of girls for the six schools in 2012 was 199, 2013 they were 185 and in 2014 (final year) they were 200. For the 200 girls at the final year, 155 girls were those who had been in the school for the whole three years given their retention rate to be 77.89 %. Moreover, the finding (Table 5) 80 % (96) of the girls most frequently received beaten and 86.6 % (104) of the girls indicated that physical punishment made some students to stop school therefore, it was inferred that corporal punishment affect girls’ enrolment and retention in schools.

5. Conclusion

The study investigated the effects of corporal punishment on girl’s enrolment and retention in Techiman Municipality in six selected schools in Techiman Municipality in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. Corporal punishment has been a conventional method of disciplining children and has become a very controversial issue to eliminate in schools locally and internationally. The use of corporal punishment in the school environment falsely and perfidiously reinforces physical aggression as an acceptable and effective means of eliminating unwanted behaviour in our society. After conducting the research, indeed I got more knowledge about the viewpoints of the students’ experiences on corporal punishment, students’ perceived reasons for using corporal punishment in schools and the effects of corporal punishment on girls’ enrolment and retention of girls in schools. In general, it was conceivably noted from the findings that corporal punishment given to girls in schools comes in both positive and negative forms even though, positive corporal punishment were frequently used in schools. The findings also indicated that corporal punishment helps students to learn better, it also corrected their bad behaviour, however, it leaves scars on their body and causes school dropout. Based on the findings, it was hoped that the teachers rendering corporal punishment should think more over the negative effects brought by corporal punishment on girls. On the other hand, students should also know the pros and cons and the purpose of corporal punishment. Again, students should know under what circumstances they should protect themselves and what can help them change their bad deeds if they know the purposes, advantages, and disadvantages of corporal punishment.

Even though, the findings of this study relate specifically to the Techiman Municipality area where the study was conducted, recommendations may be relevant to other Municipalities and districts as well as the entire educational system in general.

6. Recommendations

From the findings of the study a number of measures could be taken to ensure the use of corporal punishment in the schools. In this light, the following recommendations are made for consideration:

1. The Ghana Eduaction Service, Techiman Municipal Directorate should conduct awareness workshops and seminars about the effects of corporal punishment on learners. Learners will be empowered against corporal punishment and report the perpetrators to the authorities.

2. Physical punishment should not totally be abolished because circumstances that lead pupils to be physically punished have demonstrated that physical punishment is having a positive effects and it is the safeguard and welfare of the child. Therefore, there is the need for affirmative policy formulation to direct effective use of corporal punishment in schools.

3. A child’s participation in a democratic fashion to enable a collective decision provides a better end-result rather than arbitrary, random, unpredictable decisions that are imposed on a child. Therefore, it is recommended that, teachers should involve students in decision making in the school.

4. The School Management Committee should constitute a Corporal Punishment Monitoring Cell (CPMC) in each school to look into cases of corporal punishment. This committee should consist of teachers, parents (elected by the parents), doctor (where available)

5. Students should be counselled through awareness programs for being polite and respectful to their teachers. They would be intimated regarding the usefulness of punctuality, conduction of homework, eschew of making noise in class, confirm health and hygiene, and shall not quarrel with their school fellows. Moreover, parents’ role is inevitably significant in order to consult the teachers, ask for the students output and progress and performance in curricula and co-curricular school affairs.

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