§ 58. Mr. Sorensenasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether his attention has been drawn to a recent legal action and to other cases in which a schoolmaster stated that he had inflicted corporal punishment on a boy before an assembly of the school; and whether he will issue instructions designed to prevent corporal punishment being inflicted under such circumstances, and thus minimise the possibility of pernicious sadistic and morbid elements being present in teachers or scholars?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education (Mr. Kenneth Lindsay)I have seen a report in the daily Press of the case to which the hon. Member refers. The administration of corporal punishment in the schools is a matter which has always been regarded as within the discretion of the school authorities, and my Noble Friend does not see any reason to vary that policy. He is satisfied that during recent years there has been a welcome decrease in the infliction of corporal punishment as a means of maintaining discipline.
§ Mr. SorensenIs not the hon. Gentleman aware that for many years now we have abolished the exhibition of flogging and capital punishment for adults, and in view of that fact is it not more necessary to prevent that kind of exhibition being given to children; and in these circumstances will he not at least consider the matter with a view to keeping corporal punishment a private and not a public affair?
§ Mr. LindsayIt is a matter primarily for the local authorities.
§ Mr. SorensenWill the hon. Gentleman not, in fact, consider this matter with a view to instructing the local authorities?