School violence
2.6. Violence Prevention (Measures taken by government to reduce violence in schools)
2.6.2. The South African School’s Act (SASA) (DoE, 1996a)
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education is reasonably practicable. In order to ensure the effective access to, and implementation of, this right, the state must consider all reasonable educational alternatives, including single medium institutions, taking into account:
equity
practicability and
the need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices .
3. Everyone has the right to establish and maintain, at their own expense, independent educational institutions that:
do not discriminate on the basis of race
are registered with the state and
maintain standards that are not inferior to standards at comparable public educational institutions.
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Section 8 (4) places a legal obligation on learners to comply with the code of conduct of the school they attend.
Section 8 (5) stipulates that a code of conduct must make provision for legal process to safeguard the interest of the learner and any other party involved in disciplinary proceedings.
According to these provisions, learners have a constitutional right to study in a safe school environment (Prinsloo, 2005, p.8). Rossouw (2003, p.414) asserts that currently one of the most prominent factors influencing the learning environment in South African schools is the conduct of learners. He points out that maintaining discipline is seen by educators to be a major problem and source of stress. Oosthuizen (2005) states that a school’s code of conduct could play a significant part in the case of a law suit, as school rules constitute a particular form of subordinate legislation; therefore it is important that schools should have a legally defensible code of conduct.
2.6.3. Province of KwaZulu-Natal, Department of Education - KZN Circular No.32 of 2012 (KZN, 2012)
This circular according to Dr N.S.P. Sishi (Head of Department: Education) mandates all schools to put measures to counter violence, drug abuse and other forms of crimes in Public Schools. The District in contemplation to the above circular, declares war on the following:
Late coming
Substance abuse
Dangerous weapons
1. All schools as a result, are required to have morning assemblies for moral lessons and safety signage. The circular outlines the following measures to address the above concerns:
Problems of school violence, drug abuse and other forms of crime have risen drastically in recent months resulting in some learners’
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lives being lost and others being injured critically. The MEC, Head of Department and the whole education fraternity is deeply saddened by the recent incidents of school violence including the stabbing and shooting.
The Department of Education acknowledges that every parent is concerned with the life of his/her child therefore the issue of safety in schools cannot be the responsibility of the Department of Education alone. Parents should also play an active role in ensuring that the safety of their children in and outside the school premises is guaranteed. Therefore, it is very important for all sectors in education to ensure that violence in schools is curbed.
The Department of Education has since developed strategies which parents and school administrators can apply to stop school violence. These include the following: Strengthening the Quality of Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC). This must involve the following:
a. District Director taking a lead in the strengthening of QLTC structures.
b. Localizing the strategies to stop violence in schools.
c. Mobilizing communities to monitor and support schools, teachers and learners.
d. Mobilizing Amakhosi, Izinduna, Community forums and Social Partners to play an active role in ensuring that schools become the drug and dangerous free zones.
2. Support the schools that are conducting morning assemblies. To this end:
a. Principals of schools must use assemblies to reinforce the provisions of the Regulations for Safety Measures at Public Schools, which declared all public schools as drug free and dangerous object free zones. This message must be repeated over and over again.
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b. Where it is not possible for schools to hold assemblies on a regular basis, the principal must hold meetings with learners on a regular basis to reinforce the contents of the Regulations for Safety Measures in Public Schools i.e. reminding learners and the personnel of the school that all public schools have been declared drug free and dangerous object free zones.
c. The principal must invite the police and other prominent members of the community for example the SGB chairperson, Mayors, MPLs to conduct school safety awareness campaigns and encourage learners to strive for quality education.
d. Subject to affordability, schools may buy or mount boards in prominent positions, displaying messages that advocate for the prohibition of drugs and dangerous objects in schools.
e. Intensification of My Life My Future Campaign at a school level.
3. During the first period, teachers must repeat what has been said at the assemblies about the prohibition of drugs and dangerous objects at school.
4. Teachers must display in every classroom the contact numbers of important role players in school safety for example the police, ambulance, etc. This is the line with the linking of schools with SAPS and other school safety role players.
5. It is mandatory for all District Directors to take a lead in ensuring that the strategies are effectively implemented at all schools.