Neither the boys nor their parents filed a complaint. Other pupils viewed the incident as a punishment for staying away from school. The Ministry of Education says it has no plans to abolish corporal punishment in schools.
Juveniles are also sometimes caned on orders from the courts for criminal acts.
The PHRC is demanding that the amendment of Zambia's Education Act, that allows caning in schools, to be suspended until a national debate is held to determine a more effective and alternative mode of punishment for youths. As a result, the ZLDC has embarked on a campaign to review, with the aim to amending, Zambia's entire Local Courts Act which has corporal punishment as one of the offenses under the African Customary Law. The ZLDC, which has invited submissions from the public on its proposed amendments, says corporal punishment conflicts with the Zambian Constitution and international instruments like the one on torture, to which Zambia is a signatory. Despite the ZLDC's appeal for debate, there has been no overwhelming rush to discuss and discard corporal punishment. Theresa Thole, a teacher at a private school in Lusaka, the capital city, says without the threat of a beating, children will misbehave in the classroom.