SA’s education system in crisis as teacher attacks escalate

As South Africa continues to be plagued by isolated incidents of teacher attacks and killings, the 260 000 member-strong South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) has called for more societal involvement in addressing what it described as “a growing scourge, similar to gender-based violence”.

The call by Sadtu’s deputy secretary-general Nkosana Dolopi came in the wake of two separate incidents last Friday.

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A teacher at Riverside High School, Vanderbijlpark, and one at the Unity Secondary School, Daveyton, were killed by unknown assailants.

“While the union has conveyed its condolences to the bereaved families, we are very concerned.

The way forward

“Safety of teachers and [pupils] is something requiring the country to pause, ponder on and look at how best, as a collective, we can respond to this scourge.

“So serious has this scourge become that it has become synonymous to a situation during Covid, when President Cyril Ramaphosa said gender-based violence reached pandemic proportions.

“In looking at the safety and killing of teachers – now also happening to nurses and doctors – requires all of us to say enough is enough,” said Dolopi.

Police alone, could not be expected to quell the scourge.

“As much as we want the police to intervene, we should place emphasis on the societal role,” he said.

“If you look at instances where parents and strong school governing bodies are involved, we are able to minimise levels of ill-discipline at school.

“Parents are important because they are able to intervene quickly to attend to any ill-discipline or any conduct not consistent with the school code.”

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The social ills affecting schools came from the community, he said. “Alcohol and drugs are not sold at school – and these kingpins are not at school.

“These are social ills that get transported from communities to our schools, hence it needs all sectors of society: government, union and churches.”

Supported by Old Mutual and the private sector, Sadtu championed the “I am a school fan campaign” in support of teachers.

“To some extent, our efforts in support of teachers are paying off. With the limited resources the union has, we are not able to penetrate every corner.

“The strongest weapon we have is ensuring involvement of local communities.”

Many cases are never reported

National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa executive director Basil Manuel said a large number of teacher attacks went unreported.

“Picture a scene where a Grade 8 [pupil] in a class stands up and smacks you. A scuffle ensues and images of the drama go live on social media. When getting to the staff room, the teacher refrains from telling colleagues about what happened.”

University of Johannesburg visiting professor Mary Metcalfe said: “Everything that happens at home and in the community has an impact in schools.

“As we see greater levels of violence in communities, we also see that impacting on schools – in terms of [pupil] behaviour and what we have seen in Gauteng last Friday, in the loss of two teachers, who were murdered.

“The affected schools will have to deal with the psychosocial impact of that… School management teams will need to make sure that they provide the necessary support to [pupils] and teachers.”