Compliance of schools with law and policy on corporal punishment

The researcher aimed to investigate the laws and policies regulating the use of corporal punishment in Swaziland schools by benchmarking these against HRL, and to investigate the non-compliance of selected schools in Swaziland with the legal prescripts. The study employed the qualitative approach in two participating schools to source the information from the participants. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect the data from the participants. The principals and their deputies were interviewed, whilst the teachers and learners responded to questionnaires. The literature review revealed that the teachers tend not to adhere to the prescripts in respect of the abuse of corporal punishment. The literature review focusing on the Swaziland situation brought to light that the teachers go beyond the legal prescripts when administering corporal punishment. The results indicated that in Swaziland corporal punishment is legal while, according to the Human Rights Law, it is a crime. The study indicated that teachers do not adhere to the legal prescripts on corporal punishment. It was also found that the teachers were not conversant with the legal prescripts.