President Ramaphosa, schools are not safe under your government’s watch
20 March 2018
Our children deserve to learn in an environment that is safe so that they can realise their full potential and live a full and happy life, contributing to South Africa. Yet, daily reports of learners falling prey to crime, drugs and gangsterism, and abuse at the hands of their teachers and other staff, and how unsafe school infrastructure, such as pit latrines, continue to claim young lives.
It does not have to be this way. That is why the DA has today launched the #SafeSchools campaign at the Department of Basic Education in Tshwane. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of the issue of school safety general, and specifically:
- Drugs, gangs and crime in and around schools;
- School violence;
- Teacher misconduct/abuse of learners by staff;
- The South African Council of Educators (SACE) and the vetting of school staff;
- The maintenance of the Child Protection Register and Sexual Offenders Register for the purpose of vetting;
- Unsafe school infrastructure, such as pit latrines; and
- Reporting channels – especially the need for a School Safety call centre in every province.
These issues cannot be solved by Basic Education officials alone but the National Basic Education department working together with Ministers of Police, Social Development and Justice can take action to step up and protect our children.
Our petition, which can be accessed here, lists seven key interventions which can be taken to improve school safety. These include:
1. The South African Council of Educators must have enough staff and resources to vet all teachers and investigate abuse by teachers;
2. Enough SAPS resources are made available to patrol and protect our schools from crime and gangs;
3. The Department of Social Development properly maintains the Child Protection Register, and that every teacher is checked against it for previous cases;
4. The Department of Justice keeps the Sexual Offenders Register up to date, and that every teacher is checked against it for previous convictions;
5. The national government supports our call to have key school staff declared an essential service so that children are not unsupervised at school;
6. National and provincial departments work together on fixing the unsafe infrastructure in our schools, especially the dangerous pit toilets that so many learners are forced to use; and
7. A Safe Schools call centre (designed by Western Cape: 0800 45 46 47) is established in every province.
Today’s event forms part of a broader campaign and will be followed by a series of oversight visits across the country aimed at highlighting the impact that learner violence, teacher misconduct, crime and unsafe infrastructure has on pupils.
Once we have gathered 20 000 signatures, we will hand these key interventions and the support we have gathered to President Cyril Ramaphosa and demand that the national ministers take active steps to make all schools safe.
We also urge Minister Angie Motshekga to support our call for the departments of Basic Education, Social Development, Justice, Police and provincial departments of Basic Education to work together in ending this crisis.
For too long, our children have been forced to learn in environments that are safe and detrimental to their health and well-being and which compromises their ability to reach their full potential.
Without safe schools, pupils across the country will be robbed of prosperous futures. This is a situation cannot stand. We can and must take action and implement key interventions to keep our schools and our children safe.
Issued by Ian Ollis, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, 20 March 2018
