Dar teacher sacked for assaulting student

DAR ES SALAAM: A TEACHER at Makumbusho Secondary School in Kinondoni, Dar es Salaam, has been dismissed after a video showing him brutally assaulting a student went viral over the weekend.

The footage captured the teacher, identified as Msila Msila, repeatedly beating, slapping and kicking a Form Two student, Khatibu Khatib.

Confirming the action, the school’s headmistress, Ms Ester Mianga, said the incident occurred last Thursday and the school administration in collaboration with the Parent Committee sacked the teacher the following day.

She said the punishment contravened Education Circular No. 24 of 2002, which strictly regulates corporal punishment in schools.

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According to the Education (Corporal Punishment) Regulations of 2002, corporal punishment is defined as striking a pupil on the hand or on normally clothed buttocks with a light, flexible stick. It excludes striking with other instruments or on other parts of the body.

The regulations also specify that corporal punishment must be reasonable, considering the severity of the offense, the pupil’s age, sex, and health and shall not exceed four strokes on any occasion.

Refusal to accept corporal punishment by either a pupil or their parent may lead to exclusion from school under the Expulsion and Exclusion of Pupils from Schools Regulations, 2002.

Ms Mianga noted that the incident occurred on Thursday of last week.