The Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) has urged its members to respect the recent High Court ruling outlawing corporal punishment, saying alternative methods of disciplining students should be introduced.

Speaking on the sidelines of the organisation’s 36th annual conference in Harare on Tuesday, Zimta chief executive officer, Sifiso Ndlovu said Zimbabwe had no option, but to align itself to world conventions that call for humane methods of disciplining children.

“We should look at the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, where we are saying, in terms of corporal punishment, the Zimbabwean teacher who goes to teach in South Africa should not be found on the wrong side of the law. While we may not have a curriculum, which has the same philosophy because we are different countries, there are common standards that we can agree on, such as the Sadc Protocol on Education and Training. In that interface, we can adhere to standards which can be transferred across the region,” he said.