Provincial Education Departments are not vetting teachers against Sex Offenders Register
22 April 2018
Replies to DA Parliamentary questions, one from Justice on the National Register for Sex Offenders and one from Social Development on the Child Protection Register, revealed that none of the nine provincial departments of education has accessed the Sexual Offenders Register or the Child Protection Register in the last two years to vet prospective teachers before employing them.
The Western Cape Education Department is, however, using a private organisation to do the vetting as the South African Council of Educators (SACE) clearly does not have the capacity to perform this function.
The DA will, therefore, submit questions to the other provincial education departments to find out if all the teachers on their payroll have been properly vetted.
Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, who bears ultimate responsibility for the bodies that report to her must account for this dismal failure which puts the lives and well-being of our children at risk.