Education minister corrected after mixing up capital and corporal punishment

Northern Ireland’s Education Minister had his work corrected after mixing up capital and corporal punishment while answering questions at Stormont.

The clarification came after Paul Givan twice assured MLAs that there was no “capital punishment taking place” at schools in Northern Ireland.

The exchange began when Alliance Party MLA Peter McReynolds asked the minister if he would commit to repealing a provision which allows teachers to use force to stop pupils engaging in “any behaviour prejudicial to the maintenance of good order”.

Mr Givan said he had asked department officials to engage with him on the matter.

Mr McReynolds pointed out that the previous education minister had committed to ending “physical punishment” against children

Mr Givan responded: “I would caution the member in how he presents the information as though capital punishment is somehow taking place in our schools.

“It isn’t. It doesn’t.

“There are issues when it comes to restraint.

“I am aware as a board of governor of a school where there were pupils engaged in violent activity and the teachers had to step in in order to restrain.

“I just need to make sure that those professionals who are in environments and in situations which could become difficult, that we don’t take a decision which could become problematical for them in the outworkings of it.

“But there is not that type of capital punishment taking place in our schools in the way in which the member characterised.”

Stormont speaker Edwin Poots then intervened and said: “I think the minister means corporal punishment.

“We don’t really want there to be any capital punishment in the schools.”

Mr Givan laughed off the mistake, adding: “Hopefully nobody wants to take my head just yet.”