About 300 school principals from across the Eastern Cape are to attend a seminar on how to deal with violence in schools.
The event, hosted by the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), will be held in East London this morning.
Sadtu spokeswoman Nomusa Cembi said the union’s deputy president, Veronica Hofmeester, who is also the South African Council of Educators (Sace) chairwoman, will table a report on the extent of the crisis at South African schools.
Presenting the report at a similar seminar hosted by Sadtu for principals, Hofmeester said South Africa was second only to Jamaica in the number of incidents of school violence.
Her report showed that 22% of pupils in South Africa had been threatened with violence, assaulted, robbed or sexually assaulted at school, and that deploying police was no solution.
The Daily Dispatch has reported on several incidents of violence within classrooms.
Three teachers from a Duncan Village school in East London face assault charges in court for allegedly beating and stabbing a fellow teacher in full view of pupils and other staff members.
Yesterday the Dispatch reported on a teenager arrested last week in connection with the stabbing of two Bhekizulu High School pupils in Mthatha on the school premises.
The parent of one of the victims told the Dispatch that they had yet to receive an apology from the school principal following the incident.
Cembi said the 300 principals would be taken through “very intense training on how to handle violence at their respective schools”.
“The programme covers various aspects including labour law, the Schools Act and its implication when such incidents happen within school premises and other related legals aspects,” said Cembi.
According to the national school violence study of 2014, pupils were perpetrators of 90% of the violence that happened in schools, whether against other pupils or teachers.
Several NGOs, including Street Law South Africa, will give the school managers advice on various topics on the day.
“Our deputy president will deal with stats relating to this form of violence and what can be done to curb it, while a representative from Street Law SA will give the principals legal advice on how to handle these cases according to the laws of our country,” Cembi added.
The principal of Ikhwili Elementary School in Kei Mouth, Monwabisi Sisilana, is one of those invited to attend the seminar.
He said the area faced a huge challenge of drug abuse by school-going youth.
“I might not recall any recent incident at this stage from within the school premises, but the seminar will definitely help me deal with violence which comes with drug abuse by some of our pupils.
“Violence in school is fast becoming a problem. It’s important to have such seminars to capacitate educators on how to handle such incidents,” said Sisilana.
EC summit to look at school violence
The event, hosted by the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), will be held in East London this morning.
Sadtu spokeswoman Nomusa Cembi said the union’s deputy president, Veronica Hofmeester, who is also the South African Council of Educators (Sace) chairwoman, will table a report on the extent of the crisis at South African schools.
Presenting the report at a similar seminar hosted by Sadtu for principals, Hofmeester said South Africa was second only to Jamaica in the number of incidents of school violence.
Her report showed that 22% of pupils in South Africa had been threatened with violence, assaulted, robbed or sexually assaulted at school, and that deploying police was no solution.
The Daily Dispatch has reported on several incidents of violence within classrooms.
Three teachers from a Duncan Village school in East London face assault charges in court for allegedly beating and stabbing a fellow teacher in full view of pupils and other staff members.
Yesterday the Dispatch reported on a teenager arrested last week in connection with the stabbing of two Bhekizulu High School pupils in Mthatha on the school premises.
The parent of one of the victims told the Dispatch that they had yet to receive an apology from the school principal following the incident.
Cembi said the 300 principals would be taken through “very intense training on how to handle violence at their respective schools”.
“The programme covers various aspects including labour law, the Schools Act and its implication when such incidents happen within school premises and other related legals aspects,” said Cembi.
According to the national school violence study of 2014, pupils were perpetrators of 90% of the violence that happened in schools, whether against other pupils or teachers.
Several NGOs, including Street Law South Africa, will give the school managers advice on various topics on the day.
“Our deputy president will deal with stats relating to this form of violence and what can be done to curb it, while a representative from Street Law SA will give the principals legal advice on how to handle these cases according to the laws of our country,” Cembi added.
The principal of Ikhwili Elementary School in Kei Mouth, Monwabisi Sisilana, is one of those invited to attend the seminar.
He said the area faced a huge challenge of drug abuse by school-going youth.
“I might not recall any recent incident at this stage from within the school premises, but the seminar will definitely help me deal with violence which comes with drug abuse by some of our pupils.
“Violence in school is fast becoming a problem. It’s important to have such seminars to capacitate educators on how to handle such incidents,” said Sisilana.
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