The Honest Answer: It Happens, Though It Shouldn’t

The honest answer is yes — physical punishment of students by teachers has been a real and historically common practice in many Pakistani schools, and despite legal and social shifts against it, it still occurs in some classrooms today. This includes hitting with hands, sticks, rulers, or canes, as well as other forms of physical discipline. Most adults in Pakistan today, when asked about their own school experiences, can remember instances of teachers hitting students, particularly in older generations who attended school decades ago. So the question isn’t whether it has happened — it clearly has — but rather how common it remains today, what the law says about it, what harm it causes, and how things are changing.

It’s also important to be fair: not all Pakistani teachers use physical punishment, and many — particularly in better-managed schools and among those who have received proper teacher training — never lay a hand on a student. Teaching is a profession with many dedicated, caring educators who genuinely look after their students’ wellbeing. But the practice has been widespread enough historically that it’s a serious issue worth addressing openly rather than ignoring, especially given its impact on children’s wellbeing and the country’s education system.

The Legal Status: Banned in Most of Pakistan

Pakistan has taken significant legal steps to ban corporal punishment in schools, though enforcement has been uneven. The Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Act 2021 explicitly prohibits all forms of corporal punishment of children in educational and other settings within Islamabad. Various provinces have also taken action to prohibit physical punishment in schools through their own laws, regulations, and education department circulars, with provinces like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Punjab having introduced measures against the practice over recent years.

This means that, legally, teachers in most parts of Pakistan are no longer permitted to physically punish students. However, the gap between law on paper and what actually happens in classrooms remains a significant problem. Enforcement of these prohibitions is often weak, awareness among teachers, students, and parents may be limited, and complaint mechanisms aren’t always accessible or effective. So while the legal trend is clearly against corporal punishment, the practice continues in some schools despite being prohibited — a clear indication that legal change alone isn’t enough without sustained enforcement and a shift in mindset.

Why the Practice Has Persisted

Understanding why corporal punishment has been so persistent helps explain the challenge of eliminating it. Several factors have contributed. First, there’s a long tradition in South Asian education — going back generations — of associating strict discipline with good teaching, captured in old sayings that present hitting as a normal part of school life. Many parents historically not only accepted but expected teachers to be strict, sometimes telling teachers to “do whatever it takes” to make their children learn, which sent the message that physical punishment was permissible.

Second, many teachers themselves were beaten in school as children and may carry forward this approach without questioning it, simply teaching the way they were taught. Third, large class sizes and difficult working conditions in many Pakistani schools can leave overwhelmed teachers without effective classroom management tools, leading some to rely on fear and physical punishment as a shortcut. Fourth, limited teacher training — particularly on modern, non-violent classroom management techniques and child development — has meant many teachers don’t have alternative strategies for handling discipline issues, reinforcing reliance on old, harmful methods.

The Harm It Causes

Research and child welfare organizations consistently document that corporal punishment harms children in serious ways. Beyond the immediate physical pain or injury, hitting children is associated with increased anxiety, fear of school, lowered self-esteem, behavioral problems, difficulty trusting adults, and long-term mental health effects that can persist into adulthood. It can damage the very thing it’s intended to encourage — children’s ability to learn — by creating a stressful environment in which fear, not curiosity, dominates the classroom experience.

There’s also a particularly tragic dimension: harsh school discipline has been cited as a factor that contributes to children dropping out of school altogether, especially among those who are already struggling academically or who feel unsafe. In a country like Pakistan that already struggles with millions of out-of-school children, anything that pushes children away from education works against the country’s broader goals. Recognizing this harm is part of what has driven the legal and social push to end corporal punishment, with growing awareness that protecting children from harm is essential to building a healthier, more effective education system.

The Shift in Attitudes

Attitudes toward corporal punishment have been changing meaningfully, particularly among younger parents, urban educators, and better-resourced schools. Many private schools — especially mid-range and elite institutions — have explicit no-hitting policies, train teachers in positive discipline methods, and take complaints from parents seriously. Awareness campaigns by child rights organizations, increased media coverage of cases of school violence, and exposure to global ideas about child development have all contributed to a growing recognition that hitting children is harmful, not helpful.

Social media and the wider availability of information have also played a role: cases of teachers physically harming students sometimes go viral, leading to public outrage, official inquiries, and consequences for the teachers involved — sending a signal that such behavior is no longer socially or professionally acceptable. While change is uneven across the country, the direction of travel is clearly toward less acceptance of corporal punishment, with each generation of parents and teachers more likely than the last to reject it as an appropriate disciplinary method.

What Parents and Students Can Do

For parents and students, knowing the legal protections and complaint avenues that exist is important. In areas where laws prohibit corporal punishment, complaints can be made to school administrations, education department officials, child protection authorities, or in serious cases, through legal channels. Many schools — particularly larger or well-managed ones — now have grievance mechanisms, and provincial education departments and child protection bodies can be contacted in cases of serious harm. Parents speaking up clearly with schools about expectations regarding discipline can also help shift norms in their child’s specific learning environment.

For teachers genuinely committed to better practices, training in positive classroom management, child psychology, and non-violent discipline methods is increasingly available through education departments, NGOs, and online resources. Many experienced educators have found that calm, consistent, fair approaches actually result in better-behaved, more engaged classrooms than fear-based ones — demonstrating that ending corporal punishment isn’t just about avoiding harm, but about building genuinely better learning environments for everyone in them.

The Bottom Line

So, do Pakistani teachers beat students? The honest answer is that corporal punishment has been a real and historically widespread practice in Pakistani schools, and despite significant legal and social progress against it, it still occurs in some classrooms today. The 2021 Islamabad law and various provincial measures now prohibit physical punishment in schools across much of the country, but enforcement remains uneven and the gap between law and reality is still significant. The practice has persisted due to long-standing cultural attitudes about strict discipline, teachers replicating how they themselves were taught, large class sizes, and limited training in positive classroom management. Research consistently shows corporal punishment causes real harm — affecting children’s mental health, learning, and likelihood of staying in school. Encouragingly, attitudes are shifting, more schools are adopting no-hitting policies, awareness is growing, and the next generation of Pakistani parents and educators increasingly rejects the practice. While there’s still meaningful work ahead, Pakistan is gradually moving toward schools where children can learn safely without fear, and that shift is good for students, teachers, and the country’s education system as a whole.

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