Hard to Swallow- Warning: not for the faint of heart

This last Tuesday was a particularly hard day at school. Not because I worked so hard, but because of what I watched. I walked into the P3 class prepared to take a group for reading. Instead, I found the Science teacher with the whole class lined up for their caning. Yes, the WHOLE class was being caned for their poor performance on their Science mid-term exam. Granted, two-thirds of the class had been sent home to retrieve school fees, but there were still 25 of them who received the beating. If a child screamed out or put up a protective arm, they were told to stop or the previous hit would not count. Yelps and crying ensued.

How does one sit and watch this? Yet, at the same time what could I do? The profuse use of beating in Ugandan schools is a common and culturally accepted occurrence. They truly believe it helps the child. And they truly believe that poor performance on a test is because the students weren't listening. The whole class? In America, the teacher would be questioned, not the students, if the whole class failed a test.

Ugandan teachers are baffled by the mere idea that in the USA teachers can actually lose their job or go to jail for hitting a kid. My own opinions and reasonings will not hold weight with these teachers. So, I've started to do my own research...Looking up scientific studies on the effects of corporal punishment in schools. Perhaps this will hold more weight...

I know I haven't painted a very pretty picture of Ugandan schools here, but it's the reality. I wish I could say everything is wonderful, the teachers and students work so hard, it's just the extreme poverty that makes things so bad here, but it's not. I'm up against a mindset, so ingrained into their heads, it's sometimes hard to hold on to the hope for change.