Gauteng Department of Education has allocated one police officer to each school in the province in an effort to safeguard tablets that have been issued to grade 11 and 12 pupils.
This was revealed by the department’s acting spokesperson Oupa Bodibe in response to the high level of theft of the tablets from pupils in township schools.
“As part of the School Safety Strategy, the Gauteng Department of Education in partnership with the Gauteng Department of Community and SAPS have linked all Gauteng schools with their respective local police stations through the assignment of a police officer to each school and the additional support of a police sector vehicle allocated to precincts within which each school falls,” said Bodibe.
Thirty-three school tablets were recovered recently in Diepsloot by police following a tip-off from the community intelligence network. Another Diepsloot school lost 11 tablets after a burglary on 24 May.
The Gauteng department had distributed 600 000 tablets to schools to aid the learning process.
Bodibe urged school authorities to report all cases of tablet theft to the police.
He added, “It must be noted that these devices were specifically designed for educational purposes and cannot be utilized outside of this environment.”
The department has the following security measures in place in the event a tablet is unlawfully sold or stolen:
- In the event of theft or damage, the school is required to open a case of theft with police and report this to the Gauteng Provincial Government call centre so that the tablet can be blacklisted.
- All the tablets are fitted with tracking devices.
- Security officers have been deployed to all the schools with ICT materials.
Bodibe also appealed to members of the community to provide information that could lead to the arrest of criminals targeting pupils carrying tablets.
