Fired teachers lack 'moral compass'

TWO Eastern Cape teachers were fired for having sex with pupils last year.

In two other cases, a teacher was dismissed for having sexually assaulted a pupil, while another intimidated pupils.

They were among 52 disciplinary cases resolved by the department in the past financial year.

In other cases, teachers who committed offences ranging from absenteeism, assault, fraud and inflating numbers of pupils were either dismissed, fined, warned or suspended without pay.

The figures come after the department last week released similar statistics of backlogs dating back to 2011, which were finally resolved and shocked experts and unions.

The department would not provide details about the cases.

Last week, school governing bodies voiced their concerns.

Governing Body Foundation CEO, Tim Gordon, expressed shock and disappointment at the figures.

Gordon said they reflected lack of a credible and widely-accepted moral compass for society.

He said this did not mean education should simply wash its hands of the affair.

“Correcting this will be a long-term process. But, it could start with a series of workshops arranged for teachers by the department of education, focusing on the position of trust they hold in society and the role models they are expected to be.”

The initial seminars, Gordon said, should then be followed up by in-house workshops in schools, to examine, identify and analyse cases of misconduct and find solutions.

But, he said, those in positions of authority will first have to take the lead and set an example of absolute integrity if they were to be taken seriously.

He advised parents to maintain close contact with their children, to watch for any tell-tale signs such as staying back regularly after school, increased moodiness, children refusing to talk about school or showing signs of anxiety when the topic came up.

He also said other signs could be unexplained fluctuations in marks.

“Rooting out this particular problem demands a high level of trust between children and parents.

“Those suspected of having sexually abused a child must be reported to the police or social workers,” he said.

Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools deputy chief executive officer Jaco Deacon said there was a need to capacitate SGBs and parents to get involved.

“There is a concern unions and officials also hide these matters and offenders get a slap on the wrist. There must be zero tolerance particularly on sexual misconduct matters.

“South African Council of Educators (SACE) should also play a role because what is happening now is that sexual offenders move from one province to another without being detected.”

Deacon said there was also a need to formulate a register for offenders where schools and employers would be able to verify the background of candidates.

“Employers must not only rely on references. They must do their homework properly. This is about the future of children.”

Eastern Cape education department spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said the department had reported the cases of professional misconduct to SACE to de-register offenders.

“The ruling to dismiss these teachers was made based on the provisions of the Children’s Act. They have been chased out of the department and reported to SACE to de-register them for an unbecoming conduct.”

Attempts were made to get a comment from SACE and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development Register for Sex Offenders to find out whether similar cases were reported but a response had not been received at the time of going to print. — msindisif@dispatch.co.za