Educators under stress at schools
Conundrum of ill-disciplined pupils
South Africa’s teachers operate in stressful environments without measures to instill order among ill-disciplined pupils.
This was the view of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga in an interview with Sowetan.
In one of the recent cases, a KwaZulu-Natal teacher has been suspended after a video of him caning a schoolgirl at Umdlamfe Secondary School in Esikhawini‚ Richards Bay, went viral.
Motshekga said in some cases, teachers found themselves helpless as some pupils took advantage of the situation, citing an incident she had just been made aware of involving a pupil in Gauteng, on Saturday, who threw hot water on a teacher.
“Teachers don’t have an alternative as corporal punishment is illegal and it’s a very stressful environment they’re in,” Motshekga said.
She said last Thursday, the department approved protocols which outline processes that need to be followed when violence and serious ill-discipline had occurred at schools.
“Like in this case where a learner threw water on a teacher, the protocols guide us on the exact steps to be taken,” Motshekga said.
The minister did not divulge suggestions contained in the protocols, saying the department was still engaging teachers and parents.
The SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), the biggest teacher union in the country, has welcomed the intervention, but warned that parents needed to get more involved.
The union’s spokeswoman, Nomusa Cembi, said: “Discipline does not begin at school, it begins at home. Parents should create the foundation by instilling discipline in their children so that it becomes easier for teachers to discipline the children.”
The National Association of School Governing Bodies said it threw its weight behind the protocols, “especially if they didn’t contravene the SA Schools Act”.
The association’s secretary, Matakanye Matakanye, said teachers “have the right to punish pupils” without resorting to corporal punishment.
Motshekga said corporal punishment, which was banished 20 years ago, was a dismissible offence.
“We always advise teachers not to go toe-to-toe with learners, in the KZN video, the teacher should have just allowed the learner to walk out instead of pulling her back into class ... we say stand your ground without being violent.”
Mpumalanga teacher Tshepo Masemola said it was impossible to instill discipline as “there was no real alternative to corporal punishment”.
“There are just no relevant alternatives, especially in rural areas, as when you punish pupils by making them clean, it’s something that they do every day at home, so it’s not really effective in instilling discipline.”