This archive report was first published on 4 October 2019.
On October 4, 2019, Tanzanian President John Magufuli sparked controversy with his stance on corporal punishment in schools.
Magufuli praised regional commissioner Albert Chalamila for caning a group of secondary school students who were accused of setting fire to their dormitories, as seen in a widely-shared video.
Earlier, a government minister had criticized Chalamila, stating that only headteachers are allowed to carry out corporal punishment.
However, Magufuli called for the law on corporal punishment to be changed, allowing all teachers to administer the punishment.
He also sought to relax the rules on when caning a student might be appropriate, currently limited to four strokes and only in extreme circumstances.
Magufuli dismissed concerns that physically punishing students is an abuse of their human rights, saying, 'I have spoken to Mbeya regional commissioner [Mr Chalamila], and I told him: 'You did a great job caning them'. He should have caned them even more.'
Magufuli's comments sparked outrage, with some calling for him to pay for the dormitories that were built by poor parents' contributions.
