What schools must do to improve values

THE recent alleged gang-rape of a school boy in Chatsworth is a reflection of the breakdown of moral and social values.

It would be simplistic and ignorant to liken this kind of behaviour to childhood experimentation. It is an accepted norm that all children are born innocent and innocence presupposes the absence of violent tendencies.

One can therefore assume that violent and anti-social behaviour such as what we are seeing at our schools stems from what our children are learning in the communities within which they live.

Educators cannot reasonably be expected to manage their classrooms and teach learners while at the same time police what is happening on the school premises.

Educators are now forced to play the role of social workers, police, administrators and even midwives.

These additional tasks have most certainly led to the drop in education standards in most schools and we should not allow this to continue.

I believe the following measures would go a long way towards improving teaching and learning at our schools:

School management has to be accountable to the Department of Education and the community.

Educators must be trained to identify learners with aggressive tendencies.

Class sizes must be within the manageable norm of 40 for primary and 35 for secondary schools.

School governing body board members must be of good standing in the community and knowledgeable on education and governance matters.

Schools must be provided with psycho-social support in the form of counsellors and/or social workers.

Communities must take responsible ownership of their schools.

Pupils must be given the responsibility of finding solutions through mutual respect and co-operation.

This has proved to be successful in many countries which have found that the presence of security guards and police at schools, hi-tech security systems and strict rules have failed to achieve safe learning environments.

To curb violence at schools, strategies must extend beyond the boundaries of the institutions, and have to involve the local community.

We all need to work together to ensure a safe learning environment for our children because we know that they learn best in safe and orderly conditions. LES GOVENDER

Chatsworth