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WITHIN a three-month period, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has reported more than 65 cases of violence at schools. In an effort to reduce this, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has implemented certain safety measures.
From 1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022, the South African Police Service (SAPS) reported 58 rape cases and 15 murders committed on school premises. These cases of violence at schools have made learning environments unsafe and reduced the quality of education.
Learners affected by these acts of violence may tend to avoid school, participate less in class, or even drop out of school because they don’t feel safe in the environment. Statistics have shown that exposure to violence increases the levels of anxiety, depression and psychological stress in learners, educators and support staff.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) does a quarterly district monitoring exercise on all Safety in Education, Sport and Enrichment in Education, and Social Cohesion and Equity in Education programmes.
This monitoring exercise is reported in the Annual Performance Plan (APP), Indicator 5.1.3: Number of districts monitored in the implementation of the National School Safety Framework (NSSF), Social Cohesion, Sport and Enrichment Programmes.
According to the DBE, the NSSF continues to stay their primary response to violence at schools. The framework coordinates and consolidates all school safety interventions in the sector.
The NSSF depends on collaboration and partnerships to ensure a coordinated approach to responding to school violence. The framework ensures the following:
All schools have active school safety committees and school safety plans.School perimeters are secured (fenced) and access controls (guard and/or surveillance) are in place and managed.School codes of conduct are aligned with the Constitution of South Africa and child-protection legislation and are communicated and adopted/ agreed to by all school stakeholders.Corporal punishment is prohibited by law and alternative forms of discipline are enforced in all schools.Schools have systems in place to report violent incidences and criminal behaviour at a local police station, to district and provincial office bearers, and the South African Council for Educators (SACE).Schools have established relationships with their intergovernmental counterparts, which include the Departments of Social Development, and Health and Justice.
With regards to safety measures at schools, infrastructure plans are informed by the Audit of the Districts’ school fencing coverage which highlights the schools which need to be prioritised. Building relationships with intergovernmental counterparts are also very important to ensure services such as counselling, medical examinations and access to justice are in place.
For the 2022/23 period, the DBE is monitoring the implementation of the NSSF in 75 districts of the country. This includes monitoring how School Safety Committees are run.
According to the DBE, all provinces and districts have been committed to providing training to all schools to ensure that all School Safety Committees are well trained. Training includes school educators and support staff.
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