Watch-ful eye on schools
The Isolomzi Neighbourhood Watch conducted a search for prohibited items on the premises of two primary schools where it was found that pupils as young as grade 3 from Van Coller Primary School sniffed glue to get high.
Members of the watch searched pupils from Van Coller and Nonesi primary schools on Monday morning and recovered cigarettes, lighters, knives and other sharp items.
Van Coller principal Edward Valashiya indicated the random search was called by the school after pupils participated in a rugby tournament and were reported to have smoked dagga at Mlungisi stadium.
“The group of seven boys admitted to smoking dagga and indicated where they had bought it. We informed their parents about the incident and some were shocked to have learnt about it, while some claimed to have been suspicious but had no proof of their children’s involvement.
“The legalisation of dagga is a problem because it leads to the usage of harder, more addictive drugs like tik, which is easily accessible in the townships where most pupils stay. Two weeks ago, I confiscated a small bag of dagga from a grade 6 pupil. That is the kind of children we deal with here.”
Valashiya said the random search would help reduce acts of violence and dagga usage by pupils because they never knew when the next search would take place.
“We have had cases where pupils were caught with knives in the school. It is no longer safe in primary schools and people think this kind of incident only occurs in high schools. We have had violent incidents where a group of pupils were fighting but we managed to intervene and stop that kind of behaviour.”
During the search at Van Coller, it was revealed by their classmates that three grade 3 pupils had sniffed glue, but the boys said it was an old habit they had since abandoned.
Nonesi Primary School acting principal Monwabisi Koti said the school also had pupils who smoked dagga and had arrived drunk at school in one incident.
“We intervened through our school-based support (SBT) team, who promised to come and give a motivational talk with police and various other stakeholders to speak about dagga usage and violence in general. We have pupils who have been caught drunk on school premises and reported the matter to their parents who dealt with it.
“All these incidents happened this year alone and I only joined the school in February.”
Monde Mbangi of the neighbourhood watch said they wrote to several schools when they noticed violence in primary schools.
“We also have to acknowledge that drug sellers use young children to sell drugs in schools. We have called the police to be part of these searches because in some schools there are dangerous weapons.
“In both the schools we visited today, we discovered that pupils also smoke the chalk powder which obviously will have negative effects in the future.
“We call on parents to be vigilant and take note of their children’s behavioural patterns and to regularly check their school bags as that is where we found most of the items.”
“We will write letters to the high school requesting a date to do a random search there before the end of this month,” Mbangi said.