12 hours ago
New Safe Schools Protocol aims to combat violence in classrooms
During a media briefing Basic Education Minister , Siviwe Gwarube, and Police Minister Senzo Mcunu said rude and violent learners will no longer be tolerated in classrooms.
Image: Genevieve Serra/Independent Newspapers
Going back to basics to where rude or violent learners inside the classroom will not be tolerated, and protecting teachers and vetting them against the sexual predators list.
There are the strategies put forward, following the joint launch of the Collaborative Implementation Protocol on School Safety by the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, together with Minister of Police Police, Senzo Mchunu, on Tuesday.
The Safe Schools Protocol aims to tackle the alarming rates of violence, crime, and insecurity prevalent in schools.
SAPS data for the 2023/24 financial year highlighted 28 murders within basic education institutions, with nearly half occurring in KwaZulu-Natal and 46% involving learner-on-learner violence.
Additionally, two-thirds of reported rapes in schools involved learner-on-learner violence, while over 11 000 burglaries were recorded.
The protocol is set to emphasise shared responsibility, integrating stakeholders such as civil society organisations, parents, school governing bodies, and learners into the safety ecosystem.
Mchunu said they identified 283 schools nationally that were located in hotspots and that visible policing would be beefed-up in those communities.
He said SAPS would also build a relationship with the school body.
Gwarube outlined five key commitments to the safer schools strategy, which aimed at strengthening safety for both learners and teachers.
She said each school would be connected with its local police station and be supported by a School Safety Committee which will be comprised of the principal, School Governing Body and a police officer.
A crime prevention programme is expected to be rolled-out to focus on gender based violence and to cyber bullying, among others.
Police will also be deployed at hotspot schools, while the process of vetting will be improved and the National Sexual Offenders Registry made available.
Gwarube said principals would be educated on what to do next when there was an incident of violence or whether a teacher was found to be on the wrong side of the law.
The media raised the question that teachers were becoming victims of learners and they were even being extorted.
