Minister of Basic, Angie Motshekga, while speaking at the School Safety Summit held at the St Georges Hotel in Centurion said communities need to play a crucial when it comes to issues of safety in schools.
The purpose for the summit was to engage with education stakeholders to find common solutions to the various safety issues facing schools, as well as chart a way forward to allow for safer environments in all our schools.
The theme for the Summit was: “Strengthening Safety Nets and Ensuring Safe School Environments for Teaching and Learning”.
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Motshekga said the first step is to make their children aware between what is deemed right or wrong. She argued that a safe learning environment exists only when communities and government authorities work vigorously together.
The Basic Education Department has been spearheading issues pertaining to school safety for a long time and has also put policies in place to address and promote safety.
“We want to eradicate all forms of violence in schools and to source for a solution since the sector continues to face more incidents of inhumanity.
“The DBE takes issues about school safety very seriously and has put in place various policies and measures to ensure the safety of all learners, educators and relevant stakeholders in schools,” she said.
DBE remains adamant that there’s no place for violence, drug abuse, sexual harassment and other criminal acts in schools as they pose a serious barrier to learning.
The department views these ills in a serious light because they carry the potential to deprive our learners of their inherent constitutional rights to life, education, equality and dignity.
Key priorities of the summit included analysing provincial trends, the role of School Governing Bodies (SGB’s) in promoting and championing safety at schools, and strengthening programmes such as the “Adopt a Cop’’ project which is championed by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the South African Police Service (SAPS).
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