SA pupils ‘may be under siege’
Teachers attacked too, says official
The Department of Basic Education has conceded that pupils at schools around the country may be under siege from their teachers.
This comes as two videos recently emerged from KwaZulu-Natal.
In one of the videos, a teacher from Umdlamfe Secondary School is seen assaulting pupils with a stick and, in the same district, another video shows a principal and two teachers gang-raping a school girl.
Seven teachers, including a principal and a head of department, were issued with suspension letters by the department of education.
Also, the KZN department of education served a teacher at Umdlamfe with a suspension letter for allegedly assaulting a pupil.
“Violence at schools is unacceptable and we condemn it,” said basic eduction spokesman Elijah Mhlanga.
“We call upon members of society to desist from violent activities because children do what they see adults do.
“We [also] have several reported cases where teachers have obtained protection orders from police as a result of attacks from pupils.
“Teachers have also been assaulted by pupils,” Mhlanga said.
According to 2014/2015 figures from the South African Council for Educators (Sace), a total of 586 complaints were reported against teachers across the country.
There was a slight increase in the number of cases of corporal punishment and sexual abuse of male and female pupils (both inside and outside school premises).
The report showed that KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape had the highest number of cases of sexual misconduct and corporal punishment.