By Kefiloe Kajane
Social media this week went into a frenzy in response to pictures of a 16-year old male student of Leqhele High School in Maseru with bruises on his back after he was allegedly beaten by the school’s principal.
In an interview with theRepoter, Leqele High School principal ‘Mantebele Mahamo admitted to have whipped the boy with the help of another male teacher who was holding his hands.
Mahamo said she beat the grade 10 learner with a hosepipe after he himself had allegedly beaten a fellow student who he accused of stealing his phone and money.
“After I was done beating him, my colleague left and he did not beat him at all like social media claims. This incident happened on Friday while I was registering students and a parent came into my office dragging the boy, he had found him assaulting his nephew outside the school premises because he suspected he had stolen his phone and money.
“The student in question was disrespectfully defiant, that is when I started slapping him before beating him with a hosepipe. This after the previous day (Thursday) a police officer had come here reporting that the student had stolen from a couple in the village. I asked him about it but he denied it. He is an arrogant and cheeky child and even his mother had previously asked me to reprimand him as she has failed to control him,” she said.
She said she saw the pictures on social media when another parent them to her, and asked her to apologize.
She said while she was still pondering the matter, a colleague of hers sent her the same pictures; that is when she realised that they were trending on social media.
She also said she called the student’s sister and apologised and also asked for his mother’s phone number who works in South Africa. The student’s mother was understanding at first, but she later became hostile.
“The mother said she was hurt and felt guilty to have asked me to reprimand her son in the first place.
“I do not deny beating him but I did not break his neck. No one else took part in spanking him. I take full responsibility for incident, but I have reason to believe there are other people out there who are hell-bent on blowing the whole thing out of proportion and dragging my name through the mud,” she said.
Officials from ministry of education and training were at the school when theReporter visited the school this week.
Also there was an organisation called Boleng ba Thuto Parents Association, and the pupil’s grandmother and sister. The student’s mother is said to be a member of the association.
The association’s chairman, Reverend Tebatso Molapo, said they wanted to get to the bottom of what happened.
“They told us that we cannot see the principal because the ministry of education and education has since talked to the principal. We will not rest until justice has been served. The impression being created is that parents do not have a say in this issue,” he said.
The principal secretary of basic education Lira Khama said ministry officials had visited the school to do some fact-finding, and they are yet to give a full report. In the meantime, the ministry was dealing with the matter, but he could not provide details.
According to a country report on corporal punishment of children in Lesotho, which was last updated in February 2020, corporal punishment appears to be unlawful in schools. Article 4 of the Education Act 2010 prohibits cruel punishment: “A learner shall not be subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.”
The report further states that while this does not explicitly prohibit corporal punishment, the accompanying Parliamentary Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Education Act 2010 clarifies that one purpose of the law is to prohibit corporal punishment:
“The law abolishes corporal punishment at schools in accordance with section 8 of the constitution, which provides that a person shall not be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment.”
