What does “by rod and rote” mean? [closed]

I was watching a show and this was said:

I’ve seen this before in fanatical sects. The children are indoctrinated from the time they’re born, force-fed by rod and rote

I know that ‘rote’ is a learning style involving repetition, but ‘by rod and rote’ is unfamiliar to me.

"rod" is a metaphor for punishment -- it refers to the practice of striking a child with a stick to punish them for misbehavior (this is mostly eradicated in western countries). It's more commonly found in the aphorism:

Spare the rod, spoil the child

So "by rod and rote" means they're force-fed the sect's doctrines using repetition, and punished severely when they don't follow them.