Peregraf- Diman Ismael
Mustafa is a teenager who is still suffering from trauma since the moment his teacher slapped him in front of some of his friends on the stairs at the school he attends.
Mustafa, 15, is studying at the level 8 of elementary school. He is still thinking about the reasons for him to have been slapped, but he cannot find a fair answer as to why he got punished, except that he decided to speak up about something that happened at school.
"My teacher’s son is also a student at school and he had beaten me. I had reported the incident to the social worker of the school. Right after I reported the case, my teacher confronted me and slapped me". Mustafa is an alias for the student who spoke to Peregraf. He also mentioned that "after having been slapped I passed out on the stairs. Even though I was with a few of my classmates, none of them were able to help me while I was on the floor, because they were all afraid of the teacher".
Mustafa also shared with Peregraf that he experienced some other forms of corporal punishment such as the breaking of pencil’s lead on his head and he was beaten by a broom hard enough for the broomstick to break upon him. Finally, he also mentioned being kicked out from his classroom several times.
According to an investigation by Peregraf, corporal punishment is something still prevalent as part of the education system in Garmyan territory, particular in Kalar town.
Mustafa’s mother stated to Peregraf that "The physical violence is apparent on my kid’s face; he is terrified to go back to school."
The family sued the teacher in the local court, with no effective result so far.
According to the Public Education Policy of the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Ministry of Education, corporal punishment of any form is prohibited and considered as a crime. Physical punishment has no justification.
Danar is an alias for another student who was afraid to share his real name while he was being interviewed by Peregraf. Danar, 9, is a fourth grade student. He states how painful it was when one of his teachers clipped his nails.
He also experienced other verbal and physical abuse just because he had not tied his long hair while he was at school.
Danar’s mother stated that she had forgotten to clip Danar’s nail at home. So the teachers decided to do it on their own, but they hurt him badly and clipped his nails inappropriately such that it was very painful and even caused swelling in his fingers.
Danar’s mother also mentioned that after she had talked to the teacher who clipped her child’s nail, he apologized and said that he had been suffering from depression and he had failed to control his behavior that day.
After information about corporal punishment and physical abuse on students have been officially published on social media, the Ministry of Education has undertaken serious follow-ups to solve these issues as quickly as possible.
Adalat Lateef, the Director of the Education Department of Kalar, explained to Peregraf that sometimes the students themselves do not cooperate and misbehave. He gave an example of a situation where they tried to do a follow up and carry out an investigation, "when we had asked the student, he denied being physically punished." He also added: "Even after the student himself denied the issues, I had personally informed the teacher that any act of violence towards his students will definitely make him lose his job." He also mentioned that in some cases they even resorted to the demotion of the school director.
Witnessing corporal punishment and other forms of physical violence at school have more than one reasons, including problems with the education system in general and also the reduction in teachers’ salary since the beginning of 2019.
Ali Qadr, a teacher at Srusht Elementary School, told Peregraf that it is the government’s responsibility to provide a decent quality of life to the teachers. Ali also said "school is place for teachers and students to let go of any psychological stress that they may have."
In Ali’s opinion students are affected psychologically partly due to being addicted to video games and being exposed to excessive use of smart phones and tablets. In the meantime, there is enough pressure on the teachers that is not allowing them to have a relaxed piece of mind.
Up to the beginning of the new century, there was clearly something called physical violence as part of the education system. However, verbal abuse continues to exist and is still being experienced by students.
Mohammad Salah, 20 years old and a student of 11th grade, stated to Peregraf that just because he is an adult the teachers do not punish him physically, yet verbal abuse is something very common and sometimes the teachers are using nonprofessional terms to insult students, which is shameful.
Mohammad Salah mentioned that one day his teacher had asked him "Are you carrying a knife?" to which Mohammad had responded in the negative. But the teacher did not trust him and tried to check his pockets. He had been kicked out of class for three days.
Mohammad decided to speak up and inform the management of the school. Unfortunately, "the management accused him and the teacher was not convicted for any harassment".
At the same time, we have to mention that in some part of the Kurdistan region, there has been physical violence on the part of students towards teachers. In some experts’ opinion this is chaos of the education system in Kurdistan.
A teacher, who has asked us not to declare his name, shared with us an incident that happened a long time ago, "when one of his teachers punched him to the extent that his nose was broken it took a few months to heal. The same teacher repeated the action after 15 years and punched another student such that his nose was broken."
Violence of this sort at school has caused even bigger problems among families of teachers and students who resorted to greater violence between them.
The Ministry of Education has begun to hire hundreds of social workers to help restore the situation in schools, with the view to improve the system in the long run.
Karzan Fwad is one of the social workers who works in a school in Kalar. He says that "We have evidence that corporal punishment is still being practiced." He also mentions that "Teachers themselves are part of the violent culture. They cannot act differently. Teachers are using aggression and violence to relieve their stress or anger".
Karzan thinks that "the younger generation of teachers are even worse compared to the older generations. They think students are not allowed to make any mistake", Karzan asks: "If students cannot make mistakes, then what is the role of the teachers?"
The social workers says that is not an easy to be a teacher. There should be strict interviewing and evaluation processes before someone is hired for the role.
The social service department also has a positive influence on the resolution of these problems.
Khabat Rasheed is a manager at the social service department in Garmyan. He mentions that "compared to the previous years, we have received more cases of physical punishments." He also says that "Acts of physical violence towards students have increased tremendously compared to few years ago".
The social department is trying to resolve issues of violence legally. Khabat says that "if acts of physical violence are obvious, they submit the case to the Attorney General of Garmyan so as to start an investigation. However, if there are no signs of violence, it would be submitted to the court, if not it would be neglected."
Khabat said in the past three months, there have been cases where legal action had to be sought in order to solve the matter.