The power to control students has been taken away from teachers – NAGRAT President

Angel Carbonu, the president of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), has expressed concern over the loss of authority and power that teachers and school administrators once possessed to regulate the conduct of students.

His comments are in response to a viral video of an Adisadel College student assaulting a classmate, which has prompted widespread outrage and discussions on school discipline.

He attributed the increase in such incidents to the declining authority of instructors and school administrators in disciplining students.

Regarding student misbehaviour, bullying, and the like, I do not believe it is a matter of data. I believe we are all aware that it has persisted throughout the years. It is intense in some institutions.

“The reason is that the authority and strength that school administrators and teachers had in regulating students a few years ago has been stripped away from teachers. “Therefore, once a situation like this arises, things begin to spiral,” he explained.

The NAGRAT president emphasised that in the past, instructors had greater authority over the conduct of students due to the authority granted to them by the educational system.

However, he argued that these powers have been progressively removed, resulting in a decline in disciplinary measures and an absence of repercussions for misbehaving students.

“We need to make a decision and return to a situation where schools make decisions so that, if you violate school rules and regulations and are brought before the school disciplinary committee, you are punished by the school,” he said.

According to Carbonu, the decline in teachers’ authority is attributable to external influences that advocate for alternative approaches to child rearing.

He added that these advocates promoted foreign ideologies without considering the differences in cultural contexts, resulting in the loss of effective disciplinary measures in schools.

“The power has been transferred to a few people who came and convinced us that we don’t know how to raise children. “They brought a few pennies to sprinkle around a few people, and such decisions have been made that, over the years, the way we’ve raised children is not the best, and that the inculcation method is the best, without taking into account the differences in environment,” he added.