The Ministry of Education in Fiji is warning teachers who inflict corporal punishment on students will lose their jobs.
The message is in light of an ongoing court case where a teacher from Saqani allegedly beat 26 students with a hosepipe.
The interim minister, Filipe Bole, says the students, who range between six and 13 years of age, received bruises, while one ended up unconscious.
Mr Bole says corporal punishment was made illegal in 2002 and teachers who break the law will be immediately suspended without pay until their case is settled in court.
He says anyone who defies the directive is jeopardising their career in the teaching field.
