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WENDY MOTHATA
Community violence often gives rise to subsets of associated violence that impact on schools, according to Gauteng MEC of Education, Matome Chiloane.
Chiloane was speaking at the department’s school safety indaba held in Boksburg on Saturday.
He said that schools in violent communities often exhibit traits of violence.
He said these are schools wherein learners attend with very life-threatening weapons such as knives, pangas and, in some instances, pistols.
“It’s important that as we address the topical matter of school safety, we must not do so devoid of context,” said Chiloane, adding that schools are a microcosm of their communities.
“By implication, a school will always reflect the community in its immediate environs. In a way, what transpires in our communities will, without fail, manifest itself in our schools.”
Chiloane said non-violent communities breed peaceful schools, while “the contrary is also true.”
“Another example is that communities where drugs are easily accessible and substance abuse is rife will invariably have a spillover effect on our schools,” he said.
The MEC said that the Department must find a way to cushion schools from social ills that are troubling the communities.
“It goes without saying that social ills such as violence and substance abuse cannot coexist with a conducive, quality learning and teaching environment.”
“The learner to learner and learner to teacher violence that is now so prevalent because it is usually captured on phones and made to trend on social media must be condemned with all the contempt it deserves. It is for this reason that when dealing with possible solutions to school safety, we will need a collaborative, holistic, and comprehensive approach that involves all stakeholders.”
“These solutions must not just be limited to infrastructure safety, they must also include how we will ensure the safety of our learners, educators, and the entire school community at large.”
As part of the immediate interventions, Chiloane said almost all the no fee schools will have a minimum of four patrollers keeping the schools safe during the imminent holidays.
“In total, we will have 5378 patrollers deployed to our schools, and the visible policing (VISPOL) unit has also been alerted to pay particular attention to the 245 identified hotspots.”
Chiloane used the opportunity to address the backlog of school infrastructure in the province.
“I feel compelled to also share that to address the backlog of school infrastructure in the province, the Department has introduced a Self-Build program. This program enables schools that are competent and able to build additional classrooms to accommodate the needs of the school.”
“Through this program, we will cumulatively upgrade and refurbish 100 schools by the end of this term of office. This program sees the department transfer funds directly to schools, and this fund is then managed by our principals.”
INSIDE EDUCATION